Three NBA stars in Croatia squad named for Olympic basketball qualifiers 

Dario Šarić (Photo: Fiba.com)

ZAGREB, 28 May 2021 – Croatia basketball coach Veljko Mršić has named a 23-man wider squad for the upcoming Olympic Games qualifiers. 

The squad will be shortened to 16 after the finals of the playoffs of the HT Premier League and the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Croatia will play Olympic qualifiers at Spaladium Arena in Split from 29 June – 4 July and preparations are set to begin on June 8 with four friendly matches to be played ahead of the big tournament.

The first is scheduled for June 16 in Rijeka against Slovenia, and the return match will be played in Ljubljana two days later. Then the national team moves to Split where they will play two friendly matches with Puerto Rico at Spaladium Arena.  

Croatia will face Brazil, Tunisia, Germany, Russia and Mexico at the Olympic qualifying tournament with only the winner of the tournament heading to Tokyo. 

Mario Hezonja and Bojan Bogdanović (Photo credit: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Croatia’s squad named today features three current NBA players – Bojan Bogdanović (Utah Jazz), Dario Šarić (Phoenix Suns) and Ivica Zubac (LA Clippers) as well as former NBA players Mario Hezonja, Dragan Bender, Ante Žižić and Roko Ukić.

Croatia squad

Roko Ukić (Split)
Roko Rogić (Mitteldeutcher)
Toni Katić (Sassari)
Lovro Gnjidić (Cibona)
Kruno Simon (Efes)
Filip Krušlin (Sassari)
Mateo Drežnjak (Cibona)
Toni Perković (Split)
Antonio Jordano (Zadar)
Bojan Bogdanović (Utah Jazz)
Mario Hezonja (Panathinaikos)
Pavle Marčinković (Split)
Ivan Ramljak (Slask)
Tomislav Gabrić (Oldenburg)
Ivan Perasović (Split)
Boris Tišma (Real Betis)
Dario Šarić (Phoenix Suns)
Željko Šakić (Saratov)
Dragan Bender (Maccabi)
Ivica Zubac (LA Clippers)
Ante Žižić (Maccabi)
Miro Bilan (Sassari)
Darko Planinić (Cibona)

(HKS)