8 Euros Dražen Petrović

Croatia's decision to issue a commemorative denomination in euros rather than a round figure is deliberate: Petrović wore number 3 for much of his career, and 3 multiplied across his three defining basketball contexts — Yugoslav national team, Real Madrid, and the New Jersey Nets — yields the 9 euros issued alongside this 8-euro piece, the 8 referencing his Nets jersey number. The Croatian National Bank structured the series around his numbers rather than numismatic convention.

Petrović died in a road accident on the Munich–Salzburg autobahn in June 1993, aged 28, at the precise moment his NBA career had reached its peak — he had averaged 22.3 points per game the prior season.