Predrag Stojaković
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| Position | Small forward |
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| Height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Weight | 229 lb (104 kg) |
| League | NBA |
| Team | New Orleans Hornets |
| Jersey | #16 |
| Born | June 9, 1977 Požega, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia |
| Nationality | Serbian/Greek |
| Draft | 14th overall, 1996 Sacramento Kings |
| Pro career | 1992–present |
| Former teams | Red Star Belgrade (1992–1993) PAOK (1994–1998) Sacramento Kings (1998–2006) Indiana Pacers (2006) |
| Awards | Greek League MVP (1997–1998) FIBA European Player of the Year (2001) EuroBasket 2001 MVP 3-time NBA All-Star 2004 All-NBA Second Team 2-time NBA Three-point Shootout champion |
| Official profile | Info Page |
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| FIBA World Championship | |||
Competitor for  Yugoslavia |
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| Gold | 2002 Indianapolis | FR Yugoslavia | |
| European Championships | |||
| Gold | 2001 Istanbul | FR Yugoslavia | |
| Bronze | 1999 France | FR Yugoslavia | |
Predrag "Peja" Stojaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Предраг Стојаковић) (born June 9, 1977) is a Serbian basketball player for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. He was one of the league's top small forwards, but trades and injuries have seen a reduction in his productivity. Stojaković is one of the most successful basketball players ever to come out of the former Yugoslavia.
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[edit] Professional career
[edit] Early years
Stojakovic was born to Serbian parents in Slavonska Požega, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia but his family fled to Belgrade during the Yugoslav wars. He stared basketball in club KK Papuk, Velika. In 1993, at age 16, he moved to Greece in order to be able to play professional basketball, and settled in PAOK Thessaloníki where he spent four seasons. Stojaković also holds Serbian-Greek dual citizenship. In his Greek passport his family name is Kinis.
Peja, as he was called during his time in PAOK, scored a memorable last-second three-pointer against Olympiacos in Piraeus in the Greek play-off semi finals series, virtually winning the match 58-55 for PAOK.[1] That victory, which ended the five year reign of Olympiacos as Greek Champions, allowed PAOK to face Panathinaikos in the finals series, although the club had a disadvantage in home games and ultimately lost the series (and the league) 3-2. Stojakovic was closely guarded throughout the series by his current coach in New Orleans, Byron Scott, who was wrapping his basketball career as the top player for Panathinaikos, and did not play at his normal level.
In his final season with PAOK, Stojakovic was named league Most Valuable Player, averaging 23.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
[edit] Sacramento Kings
The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Stojaković was selected by the Kings in the first round (14th overall pick) of the 1996 NBA Draft while playing in Greece. He continued to play there until the Kings signed him prior to the 1998-99 NBA lockout season. After two seasons on the bench with Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000-01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished fourth in voting for the 2001 Most Improved Player Award.
In 2001-02, he played in the NBA All-Star Game for the first time. His scoring average went up to 21.2 ppg, and he reached career highs in shooting percentage (.484) and three-point percentage (.416). His scoring average dropped slightly to 19.2 ppg in 2002-03, but he played again in the All-Star Game. In both seasons, he won the three-point shooting contest conducted during All-Star Weekend.
In 2003-04, Stojaković was again selected as an All-Star, and finished second in the league in scoring with a career-high 24.2 ppg. He finished second in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.927) and three-pointers made for the season (240). In 2004-05, he missed 16 games to injury, and was somewhat hampered in several games, but still averaged 20.1 ppg.
[edit] Indiana Pacers
On January 25, 2006, Stojaković was traded to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for forward Ron Artest, ending his eight-year tenure with the Kings. However, he missed four games of their first round playoff series with the New Jersey Nets, all losses.
[edit] New Orleans Hornets
During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the Hornets for the draft rights to Andrew Betts.[2] On November 14, 2006, Stojakovic scored a career-high 42 points against the Charlotte Bobcats, and became the first player in NBA history to open the game with 20 straight points for his team.[3] He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery, as a result missing most of the 2006-07 season.
[edit] International career
As a member of the Yugoslavian national team, he earned gold medals at the 2001 European Championships (Eurobasket), held in Turkey, and the 2002 FIBA World Championships, held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stojaković was the MVP of Eurobasket 2001, and was a member of the all-tournament team in Indianapolis in 2002, along with fellow NBA stars Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming, as well as New Zealand's Pero Cameron. Stojaković has also participated in the 2000 Summer Olympics.[4]
[edit] Serbian salute controversy
During his tenure with the Sacramento Kings, both Stojaković and teammate Vlade Divac gained attention in the local section of newsreview.com for their use of a Serbian three-fingered salute as a way to celebrate on-court success. The sign is associated with the Serbian Orthodox Christian Church and is considered to be on par with a Nazi salute and is a military gesture of Serbian fascist movements against Croatians, Kosavars, and Muslims which was used during the Yugoslav wars.[5] Divac defended its use by the pair, saying "it means three points," and "Europeans count with different fingers than Americans."[5]
[edit] NBA statistics
| Regular season | Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | SPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PPG | GP | MPG | SPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | PPG | ||
| 1998-99 | Sacramento | 48 | 21.4 | 0.85 | 3.0 | 1.5 | .378 | .320 | .851 | 8.4 | 5 | 21.6 | 0.60 | 3.8 | 0.4 | .346 | .214 | 1.000 | 4.8 | ||
| 1999-00 | Sacramento | 74 | 23.6 | 0.70 | 3.7 | 1.4 | .448 | .375 | .882 | 11.9 | 5 | 25.8 | 0.80 | 3.4 | 0.6 | .400 | .462 | .667 | 8.8 | ||
| 2000-01 | Sacramento | 75 | 38.7 | 1.21 | 5.8 | 2.2 | .470 | .400 | .856 | 20.4 | 8 | 38.4 | 0.63 | 6.4 | 0.4 | .406 | .346 | .968 | 21.6 | ||
| 2001-02 | Sacramento | 71 | 37.3 | 1.14 | 5.3 | 2.5 | .484 | .416 | .876 | 21.2 | 10 | 33.8 | 0.50 | 6.3 | 1.0 | .376 | .271 | .897 | 14.8 | ||
| 2002-03 | Sacramento | 72 | 34.0 | 1.00 | 5.5 | 2.0 | .481 | .382 | .875 | 19.2 | 12 | 40.5 | 0.83 | 6.9 | 2.5 | .480 | .457 | .850 | 23.1 | ||
| 2003-04 | Sacramento | 81 | 40.3 | 1.33 | 6.3 | 2.1 | .480 | .433 | .927 | 24.2 | 12 | 43.1 | 1.83 | 7.0 | 1.5 | .384 | .315 | .897 | 17.5 | ||
| 2004-05 | Sacramento | 66 | 38.4 | 1.20 | 4.3 | 2.1 | .444 | .402 | .920 | 20.1 | 5 | 40.6 | 0.80 | 5.2 | 1.4 | .470 | .367 | .955 | 22.0 | ||
| 2005-06 | Sac - Ind | 71 | 36.6 | 0.63 | 5.8 | 1.9 | .437 | .401 | .915 | 18.2 | 2 | 25.5 | 0.50 | 4.5 | 2.0 | .444 | .000 | .857 | 11.0 | ||
| 2006-07 | NO/Oklahoma City | 13 | 32.7 | 0.62 | 4.2 | 0.8 | .423 | .405 | .816 | 17.8 | |||||||||||
| 2007-08 | New Orleans | 77 | 35.2 | 0.74 | 4.3 | 1.2 | .440 | .441 | .929 | 16.4 | 12 | 37.9 | 0.50 | 5.4 | 0.5 | .436 | .549 | .926 | 14.1 | ||
| Career | 648 | 34.4 | 0.98 | 5.0 | 1.9 | .458 | .405 | .894 | 18.2 | 71 | 36.5 | 0.85 | 5.9 | 1.2 | .421 | .381 | .903 | 16.6 | |||
[edit] Awards and achievements
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- Second Team: 2004
- 3-time NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2004
- NBA Three-point Shootout Champion: 2002, 2003
- NBA All-Star 2Ball Champion: 2001 (with Ruthie Bolton-Holifield)
- 4th in NBA history in free-throw percentage at .894[6]
- 6th in NBA playoff history in free-throw percentage at .903[7]
- 8th in NBA history in 3-pointers made with 1,426[8]
- 16th in NBA history in 3-pointers attempted with 3,520[9]
- 19th in NBA history in 3-point field goal percentage at .405[10]
- First player in NBA history to start a game off by scoring 20 consecutive points for his team.[3]
- He and Steve Nash of Phoenix were the only players to rank in the top 25 in both free-throw and 3-point percentage during the '04-'05 and '05-'06 seasons.[11]
- Won the 2001 Euroscar, given to the best European basketball player by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.[11]
- Named "Mister Europa" in 2001 and 2002 by Italian weekly magazine SuperBasket.[12]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ PAOK @ Olympiacos; the last 4 minutes of the game at YouTube
- ^ July 2006 Transactions, NBA.com, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ a b "Stojakovic feat historic", NOLA.com, November 19, 2006, accessed February 11, 2008.
- ^ Yugoslav Olympic participants by sports - Basketball, OKS.org.yu, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ a b Vlade's three-finger salute
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for Free Throw Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 18, 2008.
- ^ Career Playoff Leaders and Records for Free Throw Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed May 25, 2008.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goals, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 18, 2008.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goal Attempts, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 18, 2008.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goal Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 18, 2008.
- ^ a b "10 Things You Should Know About Peja Stojakovic", Pacers.com, January 25, 2006, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ SuperBasket "Mister Europa" honor roll, FIBAEurope.com, accessed February 21, 2008.
[edit] External links
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