Goran Dragic's career farewell match was a star-studded affair, and now the 40-man roster and starting XI have been released, and the game will be played at 2 a.m. Beijing time on August 25. NBA superstars Doncic and Jokic will both play, as will 50-year-old Nash, 46-year-old Nowitzki and 44-year-old Scola also play. Bosh, who retired due to blood clot problems, will attend the event, but the US media reported that Bosh will not play.
This farewell match is known as "Night of the Dragon" because "Dragon" is one of Dragic's nicknames. The match will be split between GOGI (Dragic) and LUKA (Doncic), with 20 players each.The Dragic team started with Dragic, Nash, Radmanovic, Kankar and Vucevic; Doncic's starters are Doncic, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jokic, Scola and Robin Lopez.
The 20-man squad for Dragic is as follows: No. 7/No. 3 Goran Dragic, No. 13 Nash, No. 31 Kankar, No. 77 Radmanovic, No. 9 Vucevic, No. 7 Besilovic, No. 6 Carbin, No. 21 Yokosimovic, No. 30 Rakovic, No. 13 Domon Lobek, No. 7 Preperic, No. 30 Zoran Dragic, No. 11 Pavlovic, No. 8 Smotis, No. 27 Dimivic, No. 7 Brezek, No. 8 Nesterovic, No. 5 Danilovic, No. 1 Bosh, No. 15 Ira-Lobek
Doncic's 20-man roster is as follows: No. 77 Doncic, No. 13 Bogdan Bogdanovic, No. 4 Scola, No. 15 Jokic, No. 42 Robin Lopez, No. 6 Nikolic, No. 0 Rebecc, No. 19 Udri, No. 11 Bradzic, No. 8 Muric, No. 10 Nakba, No. 55 Sloka, No. 17 Zagraci, No. 13 Zupan, No. 51 Boban Marjanovic, No. 14 Widma, No. 10 Bodiloga, No. 41 Nowitzki, No. 9 Berridge, No. 0 Josh Richardson.
U.S. media reported that the match was a tribute to Dragic, but both sides will try to win. Dragic and Nash have declared that they intend to play a fast-paced offense, while Doncic plans to pass the ball more to Jokic and Lopes on the inside. Nowitzki said in the interview that he hopes to see Jokic and Doncic team up in Dallas in the future.
The 38-year-old Dragic played 15 seasons in the NBA, averaging 13.3 points, 3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, being named a one-time All-Star and one-time All-Star selection, and was named the Most Improved Player in 2013-14.