''Once Brothers'' is a 2010 sports
documentary film
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...
written and directed by Michael Tolajian. It was co-produced by
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
and
NBA Entertainment
NBA Entertainment is the production arm of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and produces many NBA-related films including team championship videos and blooper and entertainment reels. Founded in 1982, it used to be associated with CBS/Fox ...
for ESPN's ''
30 for 30
''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...
'' series.
The film chronicles the relationship of two
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
players from
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
—
Vlade Divac
Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings ...
(
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
) and
Dražen Petrović
Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s, before joining the Natio ...
(
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
). The duo played together on the
Yugoslavia national basketball team
The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...
from 1986 to 1990 and were at one time close friends, but the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...
drove them apart emotionally, as they came from opposing sides. Petrović died in an automobile accident in 1993 before the two could reconcile; much of film focuses on Divac's regret that they were never able to resolve their differences.
Participants in the film include:
Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč, nicknamed ''“The Waiter”'' (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian-American former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful perio ...
,
Dino Rađa
Dino Rađa (Anglicized: Dino Radja, ; born April 24, 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup ...
,
Žarko Paspalj
Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly sp ...
,
Clyde Drexler
Clyde Austin Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player and the commissioner of the Big3 3-on-3 basketball league. Nicknamed "Clyde the Glide", he played 15 seasons in the National Basketball Association ...
,
Danny Ainge
Daniel Ray Ainge ( ; born March 17, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and former professional baseball player who serves as an executive for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
A three-sp ...
,
Rick Adelman
Richard Leonard Adelman (born June 16, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden ...
,
Kenny Anderson,
Derrick Coleman
Derrick Demetrius Coleman (born June 21, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. Coleman was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up and attended high school in Detroit, Michigan, Detroit, and attended college at Syracuse Univer ...
,
Bill Fitch
William Charles Fitch (May 19, 1932 – February 2, 2022) was an American professional basketball coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He developed multiple teams into playoff contenders and won an NBA championship with the Bost ...
,
Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded a ...
, Jan Hubbard,
Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...
,
Jerry West
Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...
,
Aleksandar Petrović, Biserka Petrović, etc.
Release
The film's first ever public showing took place on 10 October 2010 at the
Hamptons International Film Festival
The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) is an international film festival founded in 1992, by Joyce Robinson. The festival has since taken place every year in East Hampton, New York. It is usually an annual five-day event in mid-October a ...
. Two days later on 12 October it had its television premiere on ESPN.
Following a theater run in the country, the film aired on
Radio Television of Serbia
Radio Television of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Радио-телевизија Србије, sr-Lat, Radio-televizija Srbije, italics=yes; abbr. RTS/PTC) is Serbia's public broadcaster. It broadcasts and produces news, drama, and sports programming thro ...
's
channel one in
prime time
Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...
on Thursday, 26 May 2011.
Reaction and critical reception
United States
Dan Devine of the Ball Don't Lie sports blog feels ''Once Brothers'' "is exactly the kind of presentation ''30 for 30'' was meant to produce—an enthralling recounting of a forgotten or underappreciated story about how sports and capital-letters Real Life interact" and sees its biggest asset, among many of them, to be "the honesty of Divac, Kukoč, and Rađa in discussing the emotional toll that the war took on them".
Michael Tully of hammertonail.com sees the film as "being about many different things at once—a history lesson, a touching interpersonal drama, and a positive reaffirmation that the
American Dream still exists and isn't a completely silly construct" and labels it "a very strong work, in which the grand scope of the
Yugoslav Wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...
of the early 1990s is personalized through the relationship—and unfortunate falling out—between former
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
stars Vlade Divac and Dražen Petrović".
Though mentioning the movie was "probably too long", objecting in particular to some of the childhood material about Vlade and Dražen as well as to lesser extent to some of Vlade's travelogue before he gets to Croatia being included in the film,
Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He th ...
of
HitFix
HitFix, or HitFix.com, was an entertainment news website that launched in December 2008 specializing in breaking entertainment news, insider information, and reviews and critiques of film, music, and television. In mid-2010 HitFix crossed the 1,00 ...
still thinks it "did a nice job of telling the sad story of how politics tore apart that great Yugoslavian team, and the friendship between Divac and Petrovic".
Writing for the ''
Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...
'' blog, Jason Bellamy summarizes ''Once Brothers'' as an intimate tale that paints a vast panorama, but sees its long intro as necessary because "a good number of average
merican
''Merican'' is an EP by the American punk rock band the Descendents, released February 10, 2004. It was the band's first release for Fat Wreck Chords and served as a pre-release to their sixth studio album ''Cool to Be You'', released the follow ...
sports fans might not even remember Divac and Petrovic, and even many legitimate NBA fans are unlikely to know much about that duo's European careers, not to mention the outline of the war in the former Yugoslavia". He concludes by opining that "though not the absolute best film in the ''30 for 30'' series, ''Once Brothers'' might be the film that best encapsulates the kind of personal, outside-the-mainstream storytelling that characterizes the series as a whole".
David Cassilo on the ''
SLAM Magazine
''Slam'' is an American basketball magazine in circulation since 1994.
History
''Slam'' was launched in 1994 as a basketball magazine that combined the sport with hip hop culture at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly popular. It wa ...
'' blog described the film as mainly being Divac's story about dealing with the division that comes between him (a
Serb
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language.
The majority of Serbs live in their na ...
) and all of the
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
that were once his teammates on the Yugoslavian national team, praising it as a must-see for any NBA fan because "within the main story is the story of how an international player adjusts to the NBA. Divac and his former Yugoslavian teammates express all of the obstacles that are in the way for a foreign-born player, including style of play, language and the lack of belief by others that they could actually cut it in the NBA".
Writing for ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', Scott Tobias had mixed feelings about the movie: "For all its earnestness and nobility, ''Once Brothers'' is still very much an NBA Entertainment production, following Divac's 'journey' to a conclusion that's as disappointingly precooked as a
VH-1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...
''
Behind The Music
''Behind the Music'' is a documentary television series on VH1. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group. The program examines the beginning of their career, their road to success, and the hardships they may have ...
'' special". He continues by saying the film has a great story, but that it's also "framed in a contrived way with Divac telling us that his eldest son, an 18-year-old, wants to know what life was like when he was his age, and so into the Wayback Machine we go". Tobias also pontificates on Petrović's decision to sever his friendship with Divac and presents two reasons—the one that, like Kukoč and Rađa, Petrović was also afraid of the reaction back home in Croatia if he continued to associate with Divac and the other that he was genuinely offended by Divac's actions with the Croatian flag while maybe having a cause to disbelieve Divac's explanation about doing it out of loyalty to a unified Yugoslavia as both equally likely, before concluding that because Petrović isn't around to tell his side of the story, "''Once Brothers'' does feel a little unbalanced and self-serving, which is not to say Divac is being disingenuous". Tobias ends by saying the scene with Divac walking through
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
is the best one in the entire movie, but that it also has a problem of being "just another step in Divac's scripted road to reconciliation, which ends predictably with a casual conversation with Petrovic's mother and a visit to his friend's grave", before concluding that "''Once Brothers'' has some moving scenes despite itself, but the whole production feels as spontaneous as a frozen pizza—just heat and serve".
Croatia
Croatian media generally complained over
Stojko Vranković
Stojan "Stojko" Vranković (born 22 January 1964) is a Croatian professional basketball executive and former player. He served as the president of the Croatian Basketball Federation from 2016 to 2022.
A 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center, he played f ...
's (another Petrović's close friend, who, unlike Divac, was in constant contact with him throughout 1991, 1992, and 1993) omission from the documentary. It also pointed out several factual inaccuracies in the film such as the claim that this was Divac's first time visiting Zagreb and Croatia since the war when in fact he had already been there in September 2008 at which time he visited the Dražen Petrović Museum.
The reaction to the film from those in Croatia with personal ties to the topic was mixed.
Vranković, who suited up for Yugoslavia in four major competitions (all four with both Divac and Petrović as teammates) and whose two seasons in the NBA overlapped with both players' time in the league, did not watch the movie. However, after having it summarized for him by Croatian journalists, he mentioned several details from the 1991–1992 period, which he claims ultimately led to Petrović severing his friendship with Divac. Vranković specifically talked about having Divac and his wife Snežana over to his house in Boston in October 1991 (during NBA preseason when Divac's
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
came to play his
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
) where they discussed Divac's flag incident from Argentina long into the night. Divac then left for Paris with the Lakers to play at the
McDonald's Open
The McDonald's Championship (sometimes called the McDonald's Open) was an international men's professional basketball club cup competition that featured a representative of the National Basketball Association (representing North America) agains ...
where he was reportedly asked by Spanish newspaper ''
As'' about the Yugoslav national team's appearance at the upcoming
1992 Olympics in light of Vranković's and Petrović's statements that they want to play for Croatia. According to Vranković, Divac's response included a feeling the Yugoslav team will stay together and a surprise at Vranković's and Petrović's statements about wanting to play for Croatia since that country doesn't even exist, all of which, Vranković says, he and Petrović didn't appreciate when they saw it. Still, Vranković claims that the ultimate falling out between Petrović and Divac happened on 4 March 1992, when the
New Jersey Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
came to play the Lakers at
The Forum in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
: "Dražen later told me about taking issue with something Divac did in that game. Following a matchup versus Divac, Dražen fell on the floor expecting a foul and Divac stepped on him. That was the end in Dražen's eyes".
Zdravko Radulović
Zdravko Radulović (born December 12, 1966) is a former professional basketball player, who is now a coach.
Radulović was born in Nikšić, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia. At a height of 1.91 m (6'3") tall, he played at the shooting guard pos ...
, who had participated in two major competitions with the Yugoslav national team,
1988 Olympics in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
and
EuroBasket 1989
The 1989 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1989, was the 26th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Yugoslavia between 20 and 25 June 1989. Eight national teams entered th ...
in Zagreb, with Divac and Petrović on the roster both times, revealed to have watched the film multiple times, adding: "It was a good documentary. I know Divac and I think he was very earnest about the things he said in the movie. While we were on the national team, their
ivac's and Dražen'srelationship wasn't all that close. To all of us on those national team rosters, Dražen—who was a bit older and had already been playing abroad in
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
—was an idol. I believe the two of them became close friends once they both went to the NBA at the same time in 1989 because being together made coping with life in the new world easier".
On the other hand,
Franjo Arapović
Franjo Arapović (born 2 June 1965) is a Croatian former professional basketball player who played as a center. A tall, he won the silver medal with the Croatia national team at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Four years earlier he was a member of th ...
, who had also represented Yugoslavia in two major competitions—
1986 FIBA World Championship
The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held at the ...
and 1988 Olympics, both times sharing a roster with Petrović and Divac—had a strongly negative reaction to the film, dismissing it as "pure propaganda" and questioning its truthfulness by claiming "90% of the movie is a pure lie". Though confirming the national team functioned like a family, he also disputed the friendship and closeness between Petrović and Divac: "Stojko Vranković was Dražen's best friend. Dražen had nothing with Divac".
Zoran Čutura
Zoran Čutura (born 12 March 1962 in Zagreb) is a former Croatian basketball player. After ending his professional basketball career he started working as a sports journalist and columnist.
Professional career
Čutura started playing basketba ...
, a four-time participant in major competitions with Yugoslavia (three of those coming with both Divac and Petrović) refused to watch the movie, opining that it's "pointless, needless, and meaningless" while adding: "Personal friendships and internal relations within a sports team are a category that's very difficult to grasp and understand for an outsider, and I see no point in trying to explain them rationally. I'm not sure about the credibility of a portrayal of a relationship between two guys in a sports team, especially when one of them is very much dead while the other one is very much alive. Many things happened in the calendar of our lives since then, and explaining player relations, chemistry and circumstances that this team, which was unique in every way, functioned in is lacking common decency, especially when it's done from an American perspective".
Some of the reaction to the film in Croatia, primarily that by Franjo Arapović as well as to a lesser extent by Stojko Vranković, prompted media outlets to further inquire with Dražen Petrović's brother
Aleksandar
Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...
, also a professional basketball player who represented Yugoslavia at four competitions (two of those with both Divac and Dražen on the team), about the extent of the relationship his brother had with Divac. He said: "When two basketball masters spend five years in a national team as roommates it is very logical for them to become close friends. Dražen and Vlade were great friends and I was a first-hand witness to this in 1986 and 1987 when I played with them on the national team. Now, I believe Stojko Vranković's comments were in reaction to the claim that my late brother and Divac were 'best friends'. Vranković knows Dražen since they were little kids and he was very shaken up over my brother's death. All the other things are nonsense that's not worth commenting on. Dražen and Divac were most definitely good friends who shared secrets, joy, despair, fame... everything. Both on and off the court. They kept in telephone contact when they were in the NBA".
Reaction to the film in Croatia continued well after its premiere. In late October 2016, on the occasion of 52nd anniversary of Petrović's birth, ''
Jutarnji list'' interviewed his close childhood friend and former
KK Šibenka
KK, K.K., kK, k.k., or other sequences of two k's with or without punctuation may refer to:
Arts and media
*KK, the production code for the 1967 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Faceless Ones''
* "KK" (song), a 2014 song by Wiz Khalifa
* Kk. or Kirk ...
teammate Fabijan Žurić who brought up the movie: "Dražen had four close friends — myself, my brother Dubravko Žurić, Denis Erceg, and
Stojko Vranković
Stojan "Stojko" Vranković (born 22 January 1964) is a Croatian professional basketball executive and former player. He served as the president of the Croatian Basketball Federation from 2016 to 2022.
A 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) center, he played f ...
. And that's it. Everyone else trying to claim him is lying, and same goes for Divac's movie because it was only us who were Dražen's true friends and if we were to make a film it would be called ''Always Brothers'', not ''Once Brothers''. That movie got made and got praised, but a lot of it isn't true. Just one of many things in it that are not accurate is the whole flag thing. That wasn't why they got driven apart — that was just the story for the newspapers. The real reason they fell out was the game during which they had a hustle situation going after a loose ball, Dražen fell on the floor and Divac stomped on him with his shoe. Dražen retaliated by cursing him out severely and that's how their "great" friendship ended. That was never a great friendship to begin with and the flag incident was never a problem between them. All of this is hurtful to us
ražen's actual close friendsbecause Divac is continually being presented as Dražen's great friend, which isn't true".
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, 1754311
Documentary films about war
Documentary films about sportspeople
Yugoslav Wars films
2010 television films
2010 films
2010 documentary films
30 for 30
American sports documentary films
Documentary films about basketball
NBA Entertainment films
Cultural depictions of Vlade Divac
Cultural depictions of Croatian men
2010s American films