We at Grosbasket feel pretty great that one out of three of our best basketball stores is in Croatia. Specifically, it’s in the capital of Zagreb, while the other two are in Budapest, Hungary and Ljubljana, Slovenia. Croatia has a rich tradition of basketball, numerous NBA players (present and past) and, as a fun fact, it is currently the country with the second most members in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame! They are:

– Krešimir Ćosić

– Dražen Petrović

– Mirko Novosel (coach)

– Dino Rađa

– Toni Kukoč

This means that there is plenty of basketball being played there and since the country is also a very popular summertime tourist destination, we decided to help out all hopheads with their travel itinerary by making a list of some amazing and unique basketball courts you have to see and hoop on.

The most famous one

Dubrovnik is perhaps the crown jewel of Croatia’s destinations because of its beauty, history and also a basketball court that is on numerous lists of the most unique/beautiful courts in the world!

Here is the exact location: https://goo.gl/maps/6aX4Ejcov8HdcVaG6

The legacy of Dražen

For those who might not know, Dražen Petrović is one of the greatest European ballers of all time. Unfortunately, he died in a tragic car accident in 1993 when he was almost 29 years old and at the height of his career. He grew up in the beautiful coastal town of Šibenik where a special court was dedicated to him, and there is also a mural/shrine close to it.

Check it out here:

Dražen also has a museum dedicated to him in Zagreb:

Streetball vibes

Speaking of Zagreb, it has numerous famous courts but we will single out the one in the neighborhood of Gajnice whose rise to prominence began once the people around it started organizing a super successful international 3X3 tournament that Grosbasket proudly supports and that even Nike highlighted in this awesome video:

European giants

In 1989, 1990, and 1991 Split was the home of the European club champions! The city is primarily crazy in love with their football/soccer team, but of course basketball is also huge. It was our pleasure to organize the “Grosbasket 3×3 Summer Tour – powered by adidas: Split” at one the legendary courts.
Check it out here:

Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Bob Pettit, Jerry Lucas, Tom Heinsohn, Tom Gola, K.C. Jones…

You might be wondering why these legendary players are in this blog, but trust us that it makes perfect sense. They were part of the USA Select team that coach Red Auerbach took on a European tour, and one of their stops was this stunning court in Karlovac. This video about it is in Croatian, but it has some great drone footage of it:

Terra Magica

Istria is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea and also a very frequent tourist destination. Relatively recently, the city of Umag completed a stunning outdoor sports complex with these amazing basketball courts:

Close to Umag, there is a small place called Zambratija with this scenic court:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CL1erV3sDkz/

The OG capital

In case your Croatian vacation will be less focused on the beaches, we can hop over to Varaždin that was the capital of Croatia in 1756. It is also home to a sweet skate park with an awesome basketball court next to it – the playing surface, backboards and the rims are superb!

Location: https://goo.gl/maps/kUFQBpNbWkLyo88c8

Go east

Croatia’s eastern region of Slavonia is not necessarily a top summertime tourist destination, but trust us that it is full of amazing landscapes and culinary delicacies. Belišće is a town in it, and it has bragging rights to this magnificent court!

The source of these photos is here with an article in Croatian and more pics in the gallery: https://sportskikod.com/belisce-otvorilo-prekrasno-kosarkasko-igraliste/

Hidden gems

Finally, these are some courts that have something very exceptional about them so make sure to check them all out if you have a chance!

Betina: https://goo.gl/maps/jDhHTt8V4A7UTRoKA (check out the images!)

Samobor is a cute little town next to Zagreb that you should definitely visit for some hoop & chill in the woods – https://www.instagram.com/p/CZw8LIWMXIq/

Approximate location: https://goo.gl/maps/JgQmDyLQi25xJw9z8

We’ll finish where it all began and that will be on an island close to Dubrovnik. It’s called Mljet, there is a breath-taking national park on it and also this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDjBwSIJahN/

It’s close to this place: https://goo.gl/maps/XNiR7rqmu5qY9HSi8

 

That’s it! We hope this list will inspire you to go exploring and please let us know if you find some more stunning spots in Croatia to play ball!