Thin Line Between Brotherly Love and Hate

The hoops theme continues: two posts in two days. Today’s is about Once Brothers, the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary about basketball professionals Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac, and how the sport brought them together but civil war tore them apart. This again, was a stroll down memory lane, as I remember following their NBA careers closely.

Their story is retold by Divac—Petrovic died in an automobile accident in 1993 before the two had the opportunity to reconcile—and the cameras follow him as he attempts to find closure. The movie certainly shines good light on Divac—he’s shown as being a misunderstood and innocent bystander when the waves of nationalism divide his home country and team; his reaching out to Petrovic’s mom and brother after all these years was magnanimous in spirit—but it also provides ample screen time to those who were on the other side. Once Brothers is emotionally manipulative in the ways good documentaries are, but I was happy to take that calculated journey, much like I believe Divac was to reunite with his former friend’s family.