The arena was built in 1987, to be used at the 1987 Summer Universiade and was then known as the Cibona Sports Centre (). On 4 October 1993, it was renamed after the late former NBA player and basketball Hall of Famer, Dražen Petrović, a former Cibona Zagreb star. On 7 June 2006, on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the death of Dražen Petrović, a museum-memorial center bearing his name was opened next to the hall. Petrović died in 1993, in a car accident, cutting his great career short.