Zoran Dragić out of the court six to eight weeks due to injury

Zoran Dragić, one of the leading players of the Cedevita Olimpija and the Slovenian men’s national team, ended his appearances at the European Championship due to an injury he sustained in the second quarter of the Round of 16 match against Belgium at this year’s EuroBasket 2022. According to the initial information, Zoran will be absent from the court for six to eight weeks, so he will also miss the beginning of the 2022/23 season.

Dragić left the court in pain in the second quarter, and did not return to the court in the second half. National team doctors Marko Macura and Branko Cvetičanin immediately performed an ultrasound of the injured muscle on Saturday afternoon, and an additional magnetic resonance examination unfortunately confirmed their suspicions. Zoran Dragič has torn part of his quadriceps muscle and will probably be out of action for six to eight weeks, as long as it takes to recover from this type of injury.

“It is obviously not my destiny to be able to help the national team in the decisive battles at the European championships. But that is the unpredictability of sport. I will help my teammates from the bench, encourage them loudly and thereby add positive energy, which we will still need in the next few days. I believe that the boys will come together even more, leave their hearts on the field and in the end we will look forward to a good result, which we all want so much. I am already starting rehabilitation these days. Both in the national team and in the club medical, physiotherapeutic and coaching staff are great, and together we will do everything so that I can return to the floor well prepared,” Zoran Dragić, who was forced to miss the already victorious season due to recovery from a knee injury, summed up his thoughts for the official website of the Basketball Federation of Slovenia after receiving the medical reports European Championship in 2017.

Dragić joined Cedevita Olimpija at the beginning of this calendar year, and this summer he extended his cooperation with the Ljubljana club for another two seasons. In the 2021/22 competitive season, he played in 12 7DAYS EuroCup games and averaged 10.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 0.7 steals per game. In the regional league, Zoran played 16 games and recorded 12.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. With the Dragons, Dragić became Slovenian cup champion in February, and Slovenian national champion in May.

Zoran played in six games at this year’s EuroBasket, spending an average of 17.2 minutes on the floor per game. He scored 5.3 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.