Retired from the courts since 2011, after winning a ring with the Mavs for what turned out to be his farewell tour, Peja Stojakovic is now a full-time NBA prospect father, while his son Andrej is in turn preparing to launch his pro career, he who is currently playing at the University of California.
A little orange ball prodigy at the time when Yugoslavia was still a united country, Peja Stojakovic really started his career at 14 years old. After a first – forced – move from Croatia to Belgrade.
“We are Serbs but we lived in Croatia. After my fourth year, war broke out in Yugoslavia. We were forced to move and leave everything behind. we moved to Belgrade and that’s where it started for me,” he says in the podcast The Knuckleheads. “Red Star gave me a chance. When I was 14, I was already pretty big. It was my first serious contact with basketball. And everything happened quickly behind. »
At PAOK Salonika at 16!
Two years later, do it again! But this time, the young shooter is packing his bags for Greece. Head to PAOK Salonika. At only 16 years old, Peja Stojakovic will not only discover another country… but also the pressure of playing with the status of a foreigner in a high-tension basketball culture!
“Greek clubs were doing well at the time. There were big players. I played against Dominique Wilkins [qui évoluait au Pana] at 17 years old. He brought back the first title to Pana, which has won others since. He changed the situation in Greece. I played with Xavier McDaniel, but also Anthony Bonner who played for the Knicks. It helped me understand a little of what awaited me. It was difficult to keep up the pressure sometimes, when the owner would come and tell you that if you didn't win, you wouldn't get paid! That's how it was back then. I played in stadiums where smoking was allowed. The coaches were smoking! »
Scouted by the NBA both for his atypical profile as a tall shooter and for his precocity at the highest level, Peja Stojakovic however explains that at the time, the spies of the Great League ultimately only ventured very rarely on the Old Continent. Result: we had to show up at their place and therefore cross the Atlantic!
“I had already spent three seasons in Greece, where I arrived in 1993. When I was 19, I left to show myself in the United States. My agent organized workouts with some teams. Because few scouts traveled to Europe at the time. I did a workout with “Big Z” (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) in Chicago in 1996. Everyone came to see him but I stood out. And two weeks later, I had invitations with the Kings, the Bulls and the Pacers. I did workouts that I will never forget, especially in front of Jerry Krause. »
The revolution of the Kings
While passing through for his workouts, Peja Stojakovic and his agent will also experience the evening of the Draft at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutheford, New Jersey. A inevitably unforgettable evening as the Europeans could be counted on the fingers of two hands in the NBA.
“Draft night was difficult. I was alone with my agent. My first time in the United States. I was mostly stressed because I told myself that if I got drafted, I would have to go up there and talk to all the media. My English at the time was terrible! »
Drafted in 1996, in 14th position by the Kings, Peja Stojakovic did not finally arrive in the NBA until two years later, in 1998. He himself easily admits that he needed to strengthen himself, physically and mentally.
“I needed these two years to gain experience and depth. When I got to 21, I was ready. There was still Mitch Richmond in Sacramento. But I was told that I was going to play. Then the lockout happened and we were stuck for six months. And suddenly they traded Richmond for Webber. And during that time, they had signed Vlade. Plus the Jason Williams Draft. There were expectations right away with the Kings. Vlade has been a great mentor to me. But we quickly knew that the team had great potential. We made the playoffs, we played Utah until Game 5 during this shortened season. »
Sacramento, the ideal base
A fierce scorer in Greece and even in the Euroleague, averaging 24 and 21 points respectively in his last season before leaving for the NBA (in 1997-98), Peja Stojakovic on the other hand needed some time to adapt. before being able to perform on American courts.
In fact, it was only in his third season that he started to make a splash in the Big League…
“The first fifteen matches of my career were very complicated for me. I remember, my first match in San Antonio, my first shot was an airball! I was super stressed. It was against Portland, coached by Mike Dunleavy, with Rasheed Wallace playing in position 3. I had to defend on him. And they, obviously, as soon as they saw me, they canceled all their systems to play the duel against me. At the low post, I found myself on the bench quickly [rires] ! I had to get used to the size, the power of the NBA game. »
Having become a starter in 2000, after two seasons off the bench, Peja Stojakovic will take on another dimension by achieving the first of five consecutive seasons around 20 points per game, including his 2003/04 campaign at 24 points and 6 average rebounds, rewarded with his third (and final) All-Star cap.
“I was very lucky in Sacramento because I fell in with Jason [Williams]an incredible leader who didn't want to shoot and who preferred to pass a hundred times. Chris Webber who was also an unselfish player, one of the best interior passers. And then Vlade who also wants to make assists, it was incredible for me! But, then we had Coach [Pete] Carril (Rick Adelman's assistant), who inserted actions from the Princeton Offense into our game. We had Bibby, Christie, Turk, Pollard, Bobby Jackson… We didn't care who scored the baskets. We learned that a good cut, a good screen might not free you, but a teammate at the end of the chain. That’s the mentality we adopted, to play for others and it clicked! Those were definitely my best years in the NBA in Sacramento. »
The insurmountable pitfall of the Lakers
In this Kings team of the early 2000s, which embodies this internationalization of the NBA, with a collective game inspired by European trends, we notably found a certain Hedo Turkoglu. The Turkish rookie who made his teammates laugh when he arrived.
“Hedo arrived in the NBA, but he had to buy out his buyout with his club [turc]. As a result, he had to have something like $100,000 left to live on. We took care of it with Vlade. They always hung out with us on the road and he ate at home when we played at home. But Hedo is a number! He became direct American. He started getting dressed, wearing baggy pants, listening to hip hop! He became the talk of the locker room, everyone adored him! One game against Phoenix and Clifford Robinson, then a veteran, Hedo kept telling the bench to let him shoot. Cliff came to see us: but who is this guy? After the match, Cliff was chatting with C-Webb and he brought Hedo in: 'Rook, I know we can talk and joke on a field. But you have to play to do it! You can't do that from the bench!' »
Exited from the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002 by the Lakers of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the Kings of Stojakovic, Webber, Divac and company will unfortunately never go as far as the title, probably missing their best chance in 2002, with Game 7 at home…
“We played the Lakers in 2001 and 2002. Playing against Shaq and Kobe was something. Because both of them asked for a double take. We were on alert almost all the time in defense. In 2002, we had our chance, it was our opportunity. We had Game 7 at home. We can say what we want, but I mainly look at what we could have done better, what I could have done better. I missed shots, we missed a ton of screen delays, we missed actions. What's also a shame about this team is that we were never at our respective primes at the same time. Vlade was already 36 when I started mine. C-Webb was returning from injury. We never had this opportunity unfortunately. »
A three-star shooter!
An All Star from 2002 to 2004, Peja Stojakovic also found success on the international stage at that time, with a European Championship title in 2001 (plus tournament MVP). And better yet, the title of world champion acquired on American soil, in Indianapolis in 2002!
“It was obviously amazing to get the recognition from the general public but I always thought I was an All-Star because I represented our team which was truly a fantastic team. It couldn't have worked any other way for me because the style of play matched, the team cohesion, the sharing. We were All-Stars to reward the results of our team. »
Shooter in front of the eternal, so much so that he achieved the extremely rare feat of scoring his team's first 20 points consecutively with the Hornets on November 14, 2006, and winner of the “back to back” 3-point shooting competition in 2002 and 2003, Peja Stojakovic did not lead far during his participation in the long-distance shooting competition, a truly unique exercise!
“I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. It's not an easy exercise. It's something else than being in your room, in the rhythm, in the calm. When you have to stay on the bench for I don't know, ten, fifteen or twenty minutes waiting for your name to be called. With the noise, the lights, you have sixty seconds and you have to go! Personally, I was trying to find my rhythm. I was lucky, I faced some big competitors. I did it five times and was nervous every time. »
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
