New Orleans Hornets – No. 16 | |
Small forward | |
Born | June 9, 1977 Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia |
---|---|
Nationality | Serbian / Greek |
Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
Listed weight | 229 lb (104 kg) |
League | NBA |
Salary | $13,392,000[1] |
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 | National Championships 1993 with Red Star Belgrade
EuroBasket 2001 MVP |
Profile | Info Page |
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Competitor for Yugoslavia | ||
FIBA World Championship | ||
Gold | 2002 Indianapolis | FR Yugoslavia |
European Championships | ||
Gold | 2001 Istanbul | FR Yugoslavia |
Bronze | 1999 France | FR Yugoslavia |
Predrag “Peja” Stojaković (Serbian: Предраг “Пеђа” Стојаковић, IPA: [pɛdʑa stɔjakɔʋitɕ]; born June 9, 1977 in Požega, Croatia, Yugoslavia) is a Serbian basketball player currently playing for the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Stojaković is often considered to be one of the most successful basketball players ever to come out of Serbia.
Contents |
Professional career
Early years and Red Star
Stojaković was born to Serbian parents, Miodrag and Branka Stojaković,[2] in Slavonska Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia but his family fled to Belgrade during the Yugoslav wars. He played for Red Star Belgrade , winning a national championship during the 1992-93 season.
He acquired Greek citizenship in 1993 when he joined PAOK BC in Greece.[3]
PAOK BC
Peja, as he was called during his time in PAOK BC, scored a memorable last-second three-pointer against Olympiacos in Piraeus in the Greek playoff semi-finals series, virtually winning the match 58-55 for PAOK.[4] 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. Stojaković was closely guarded throughout the series by his former coach in New Orleans, Byron Scott, who was wrapping up his basketball career as the top player for Panathinaikos, and did not play at his normal level.
In his final season with PAOK, Stojaković averaged 23.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals.
Sacramento Kings
The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) Stojaković was selected by the Sacramento 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 second 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 fourth in MVP voting and was voted on to the All-NBA 2nd Team. He also led the NBA in free-throw percentage (.933) 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.
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.
New Orleans Hornets
During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for the draft rights to Andrew Betts.[5] On November 14, 2006, Stojaković 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.[6] He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery, as a result missing most of the 2006–07 season.
Career transactions
- June 26, 1996: Drafted 14th overall in 1996 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.
- June 15, 1998: Signed with Sacramento.
- January 25, 2006: Traded by Sacramento to the Indiana Pacers for Ron Artest.[7]
- July 12, 2006: Signed and traded by Indiana to the then-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for draft rights of Andrew Betts.[8]
International career
As a member of the Serbian national team, he earned gold medals at the 2001 European Championships (Eurobasket), held in Turkey, the 2002 FIBA World Championships, held in Indianapolis, Indiana. He also participated at the 2000 Summer Olympics.[9] 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 Ginóbili, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming, as well as New Zealand's Pero Cameron.
Personal life
Stojaković is married to Greek model Aleka Kamila, and has two children with her: Andrej and Mila.[10]
NBA career statistics
Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998–99 | Sacramento | 48 | 1 | 21.4 | .378 | .320 | .851 | 3.0 | 1.5 | .9 | .2 | 8.4 |
1999–00 | Sacramento | 74 | 11 | 23.6 | .448 | .375 | .882 | 3.7 | 1.4 | .7 | .1 | 11.9 |
2000–01 | Sacramento | 75 | 75 | 38.7 | .470 | .400 | .856 | 5.8 | 2.2 | 1.2 | .2 | 20.4 |
2001–02 | Sacramento | 71 | 71 | 37.3 | .484 | .416 | .876 | 5.3 | 2.5 | 1.1 | .2 | 21.2 |
2002–03 | Sacramento | 72 | 72 | 34.0 | .481 | .382 | .875 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .1 | 19.2 |
2003–04 | Sacramento | 81 | 81 | 40.3 | .480 | .433 | .927 | 6.3 | 2.1 | 1.3 | .2 | 24.2 |
2004–05 | Sacramento | 66 | 66 | 38.4 | .444 | .402 | .920 | 4.3 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .2 | 20.1 |
2005–06 | Sacramento Indiana |
31 40 |
31 40 |
37.0 36.4 |
.403 .461 |
.397 .404 |
.933 .903 |
5.3 6.3 |
2.2 1.7 |
.6 .6 |
.1 .2 |
16.5 19.5 |
2006–07 | NO/Oklahoma City | 13 | 13 | 32.7 | .423 | .405 | .816 | 4.2 | .8 | .6 | .3 | 17.8 |
2007–08 | New Orleans | 77 | 77 | 35.2 | .440 | .441 | .929 | 4.3 | 1.2 | .7 | .1 | 16.4 |
2008–09 | New Orleans | 61 | 59 | 34.2 | .399 | .378 | .894 | 4.3 | 1.2 | .9 | .1 | 13.3 |
Career | 709 | 597 | 34.4 | .454 | .402 | .894 | 4.9 | 1.8 | 1.0 | .1 | 17.7 | |
All-Star | 3 | 0 | 14.3 | .364 | .385 | .000 | 2.0 | 1.0 | .3 | .0 | 7.0 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1998–99 | Sacramento | 5 | 0 | 21.6 | .346 | .214 | 1.000 | 3.8 | .4 | .6 | .0 | 4.8 |
1999–00 | Sacramento | 5 | 0 | 25.8 | .400 | .462 | .667 | 3.4 | .6 | .8 | .0 | 8.8 |
2000–01 | Sacramento | 8 | 8 | 38.4 | .406 | .346 | .968 | 6.4 | .4 | .6 | .4 | 21.6 |
2001–02 | Sacramento | 10 | 7 | 33.8 | .376 | .271 | .897 | 6.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .0 | 14.8 |
2002–03 | Sacramento | 12 | 12 | 40.5 | .480 | .457 | .850 | 6.9 | 2.5 | .8 | .4 | 23.1 |
2003–04 | Sacramento | 12 | 12 | 43.1 | .384 | .315 | .897 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | .2 | 17.5 |
2004–05 | Sacramento | 5 | 5 | 40.6 | .470 | .367 | .955 | 5.2 | 1.4 | .8 | .2 | 22.0 |
2005–06 | Indiana | 2 | 2 | 25.5 | .444 | .000 | .857 | 4.5 | 2.0 | .5 | .5 | 11.0 |
2007–08 | New Orleans | 12 | 12 | 37.9 | .436 | .549 | .926 | 5.4 | .5 | .5 | .1 | 14.1 |
2008–09 | New Orleans | 5 | 5 | 32.4 | .367 | .308 | .923 | 2.8 | .4 | .8 | .2 | 11.2 |
Career | 76 | 63 | 36.3 | .419 | .376 | .904 | 5.7 | 1.1 | .8 | .2 | 16.2 |
Awards and achievements
-
- Second Team: (2004)
- 3-time NBA All-Star: (2002, 2003, 2004)
- 2-time NBA Three-point Shootout Champion: (2002, 2003)
- 4th in NBA history in free-throw percentage at .8944[11]
- 4th in NBA history in 3-pointers made with 1,571[12]
- 6th in NBA playoff history in free-throw percentage at .903[13]
- 10th in NBA history in 3-pointers attempted with 3,904[14]
- 23rd in NBA history in 3-point field goal percentage at .4024[15]
- First player in NBA history to start a game off by scoring 20 consecutive points for his team.[6]
- 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.[16]
- Won the 2001 Euroscar Award, given to the best European basketball player by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.[16]
- Named Mister Europa Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002 by Italian weekly magazine Superbasket.[17]
See also
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/predrag_stojakovic/bio.html NBA.com, Peja Stojakovic, Personal & Bio
- ^ Stojakovic's trade demand leaves Kings on verge of breakup
- ^ PAOK @ Olympiacos; the last 4 minutes of the game at YouTube
- ^ July 2006 Transactions, NBA.com, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ a b "Stojaković feat historic", NOLA.com, November 19, 2006, accessed February 11, 2008.
- ^ Kings Acquire Ron Artest for Peja Stojakovic
- ^ Hornets Acquire Peja Stojakovic
- ^ Yugoslav Olympic participants by sports - Basketball, OKS.org.yu, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ http://www.nba.com/playerfile/predrag_stojakovic/bio.html NBA.com, Peja Stojakovic, Personal & Bio
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for Free Throw Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 15, 2009.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goals, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 15, 2009.
- ^ Career Playoff Leaders and Records for Free Throw Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed May 25, 2008.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goal Attempts, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 15, 2009.
- ^ Career Leaders and Records for 3-Pt Field Goal Pct, basketball-reference.com, accessed April 15, 2009.
- ^ a b "10 Things You Should Know About Peja Stojaković", Pacers.com, January 25, 2006, accessed February 1, 2008.
- ^ SuperBasket "Mister Europa" honor roll, FIBAEurope.com, accessed February 21, 2008.
External links
- NBA.com profile
- Peja Stojaković at ESPN.com
- Basketpedya.com Profile
- Peja Stojaković Children's foundation
|
|
|
|
|
|
|