FORMER Warrnambool Seahawk Todd Spehr is making international waves in the basketball community with a book on one of the sport’s greatest ‘what if’ stories.
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Spehr’s self-published Drazen: The Remarkable Life & Legacy of the Mozart of Basketball is written about former Croatian superstar Drazen Petrovic, who became one of the first foreigners to attain NBA stardom.
At 28-years-old, still early in his NBA career, Petrovic died in a 1993 traffic accident, leaving many wondering about what could have been for the now Basketball Hall of Fame inductee.
Now based in Melbourne, Spehr released his book in March and caught the eye of a New York company, which will republish the story next year with plans to produce European translations.
Spehr’s two stints with the Seahawks bookended his four years at the Central Christian College of Kansas.
He returned for a coaching position at his alma mater in 2009, but was also putting his minor in journalism to work as a freelance writer. Pieces in SLAM magazine drew enough exposure to earn NBA credentials in 2008, allowing him to cover the Oklahoma City Thunder during the early years of superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
“I'd written for Slam for about three years and when I was coaching from 2009 to 2011 they got me credentials to go down to Oklahoma City, so every chance I got I’d go down there from Kansas,” he said.
“It was their first year after moving from Seattle so it was a lot different back then.
“It was just myself and two other writers in the locker room. When they made the play-offs in 2010 you couldn’t swing a cat in there.
“Durant was so advanced, but it was amazing the habits you could see in him.
“He was always early there working out and Westbrook was the same. The reckless way he played was unlike so many guys.”
Many sports fans are familiar with Petrovic after the ESPN Films’ 30 for 30 documentary, Once Brothers, which highlighted his tragic death after becoming a star with the New Jersey Nets.
While Spehr’s return to Australia in 2011 led him away from basketball, he said the Petrovic story helped him stay connected to the game he loved.
“A lot of people know Drazen from the documentary but my interest predated that a little bit,” he said.
“It was a dream come true to write a book.”
Spehr, whose parents live in Warrnambool, said the story took three years to write, as he aimed to shine a light on the athlete’s motivation to excel through tough circumstances.
“A lot of people are intrigued by his death but I was more attracted to what he accomplished while he was alive,” Spehr said.
“How do you explain that a kid is born in a small Croatian town in 1964 and by 1993 is one of best basketball players in the world?
“Europeans hadn’t been successful in the NBA and most were happy to be role players, but he wanted to be a star.”