Peja Stojaković
From Hoopedia
 Stoajakovic playing for the Dallas Mavericks. | ||
| Small forward | ||
| Personal information | ||
| Born | June 9, 1977 Požega, Yugoslavia | |
| Nationality | Serbian | |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | |
| Listed weight | 229 lbs (104 kg) | |
| Career information | ||
| NBA Draft | 1996 / Round: 1/ Pick: 14th | |
| by the Sacramento Kings | ||
| Pro career | 1996-2011 | |
| Career history | ||
| 1992-1993 | Red Star Belgrade | |
| 1994-1996 | PAOK | |
| 1996-2006 | Sacramento Kings | |
| 2006 | Indiana Pacers | |
| 2006-2010 | New Orleans Hornets | |
| 2010-2011 | Toronto Raptors | |
| 2011 | Dallas Mavericks | |
| Career highlights and awards | ||
| ||
| Medals | ||
Competitor for  Yugoslavia
| ||
| FIBA World Championship | ||
| Gold | 2002 | |
| Profile at NBA.com | ||
Predrag "Peja" Stojaković (born June 9, 1977) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player who played Small forward. He was one of the league's top small forwards, but trades and injuries have seen a reduction in his productivity. Stojaković was one of the most successful basketball players ever to come out of Serbia.
Contents |
Early Years
Stojaković was born to Serbian parents in Požega, Croatia, Yugoslavia but his family fled to Belgrade during the Yugoslav wars. In 1993, at age 16, he moved to Greece in order to be able to play professional basketball, and settled in PAOK BC where he spent four seasons. Stojaković also acquired Greek citizenship in 1993, and his Greek surname is Kinis.
Peja, as he was called during his time in PAOK, scored a memorable last-second three-pointer against Olympiakos in Athens in the Greek play-off semi-finals series, virtually winning the match 55-58 for PAOK. That victory, which ended the five year reign of Olympiacos as Greek Champions, allowed PAOK to face Panathinaikos Athens in the finals, although the club had a disadvantage in home games and ultimately lost the series (and the league) 3-2.
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.
NBA
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 in Sacramento, he had a breakthrough season in 2000-01, averaging 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds, and shooting .400 from three-point range in his first season as a starter. He finished second in voting for the NBA 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 (.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.
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/Oklahoma City Hornets
During the 2006 offseason, he re-signed with the Pacers, only to be traded to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for the draft rights to Andrew Betts. In the eighth game for his new team on November 14, 2006, he 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. He was soon sidelined for several months by injuries, including back surgery. He has missed most of the 2006/2007 season because of this.
Toronto Raptors
On January 20, 2011 his contract was bought out by the Raptors making him a Free agent.
Dallas Mavericks
On January 24, 2011 he was signed by the Dallas Mavericks.
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.
- July 12, 2006: Signed and traded by Indiana to the then-
International Career
As a member of the Serbian 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 Ginóbili, Dirk Nowitzki, and Yao Ming, as well as New Zealand's Pero Cameron.
Stojaković has also participated in the 2000 Olympics.
Personal
Stojaković is married to Greek fashion model Aleka Kamila. The couple have one son (Andrej) and one daughter (Mila).
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 | Led League |
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 | 31 | 31 | 37.0 | .403 | .397 | .933 | 5.3 | 2.2 | .6 | .1 | 16.5 |
| 2005–06 | Indiana | 40 | 40 | 36.4 | .461 | .404 | .903 | 6.3 | 1.7 | .6 | .2 | 19.5 |
| 2005–06 | total season | 71 | 71 | 36.6 | .437 | .401 | .915 | 5.8 | 1.9 | .6 | .1 | 18.2 |
| 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 Feats
- He is a three-time NBA All-Star (2002, 2003 and 2004)
- was All-NBA Second Team in 2003-04.
- He led the NBA in free-throw percentage twice in 2003-04 with .927 and in 2007-08 with .929.
- He led the NBA in 3-pointers in 2003-04 with 240.
- He won two consecutive titles in the NBA's Three-point Shootout. (2002 and 2003)
- He ranks 4th in NBA history in free-throw percentage at .894
- 4th in NBA history in 3-pointers made with 1,571
- 6th in NBA playoff history in free-throw percentage at .903
- 10th in NBA history in 3-pointers attempted with 3,904
- 23rd in NBA history in 3-point field goal percentage at .4024
- On November 14, 2006 he became the first player in NBA history to start a game off by scoring 20 consecutive points for his team.
- He is one of only two NBA players to make at least 100 3-pointers in each of the last seven seasons
- He and Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns 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.
- He has scored 30 points or more in a game 53 times in his career, including four times in the playoffs.
- He won the 2001 Euroscar, given to the best European basketball player by Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
- Named Mister Europa Player of the Year in 2001 and 2002 by Italian weekly magazine Superbasket.
