15-Year NBA Veteran Guard Retiring From Basketball

He spent the past few years bouncing from team to team, trying to get himself into position to win a ring, but in the end, after 15 seasons, point guard Goran Dragić has decided to end the chase and retire from professional basketball.

Goran Dragic is retiring from the game of basketball, per @Eurohoopsnet

(Via https://t.co/SLXoXlHuKF) pic.twitter.com/6O9aUzOfAR

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) December 30, 2023

The 37-year-old has announced that he’ll play one final farewell game in August in his native Slovenia during a charity event. He’s been unable to land a job with an NBA team this season, and many had speculated that he’d end his career by signing a one-day contract with the Miami Heat, the team he enjoyed his most success with. The charity event revelation seems to end that likelihood.

Dragic spent time with seven different NBA teams, including, in addition to the Heat, the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Toronto Raptors. His longest and most successful run came with the Heat, which saw him average 16.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists in 391 games in South Beach.  

Last year, Dragic split his time between the Bulls and the Bucks, averaging 6.3 points and 2.6 assists in 58 games.

A second-round pick in 2008, he finishes his career with 946 games played in the NBA, averaging 13.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 27 minutes per game. In the 2013–14 season Dragic was named to the All-NBA third team and won the league’s Most Improved Player award when he averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists while with the Suns.

Photo: Russell Isabella-USA TODAY Sports