Peja Stojaković facts for kids
Stojaković with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 9 June 1977 Slavonska Požega, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Serbian / Greek | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 229 lb (104 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA Draft | 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14th overall | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Selected by the Sacramento Kings | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pro career | 1992–2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1992–1993 | Crvena zvezda | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1998 | PAOK | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2006 | Sacramento Kings | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Indiana Pacers | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2010 | New Orleans Hornets | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Toronto Raptors | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Dallas Mavericks | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||
As a player:
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Points | 13,647 (17.0 ppg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rebounds | 3,782 (4.7 rpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assists | 1,408 (1.8 apg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Medals
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Predrag Stojaković (born 9 June 1977), known as Peja, is a famous Serbian basketball executive and former player. He was most recently an assistant general manager for the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Peja is known as one of the best shooters in NBA history. He made 1,760 three-point shots during his career. He also won the NBA Three-Point Contest twice.
Peja started his career in Europe before being drafted by the Sacramento Kings in 1996. He became a star player for the Kings, making the All-Star team three times. He later won an NBA Championship in 2011 with the Dallas Mavericks. Peja also helped the FR Yugoslavian national team win gold medals in 2001 and 2002. He is considered one of the greatest European basketball players ever. In 2022, he was added to the Greek Basket League Hall of Fame.
Contents
Early Life and Moving to Greece
Predrag "Peja" Stojaković was born in Požega, which was part of Yugoslavia at the time. His parents are Miodrag and Branka Stojaković. When he was young, his family moved to Belgrade because of conflicts in their home country.
In 1993, when Peja was 16, he moved to Thessaloniki, Greece. His father joined him there a few years later. Many of Peja's relatives now live in Serbia.
Peja's Basketball Journey
Starting in Europe
Peja began his professional basketball career at age 15 with the Crvena zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) club. He played two seasons there and helped the team win a national championship in 1993.
In 1993, Peja moved to Greece and joined the PAOK Thessaloniki team. With PAOK, he won the Greek Cup in 1995. He also played in a European championship final. In his last season with PAOK, he was a top scorer, averaging 23.9 points per game in the Greek League.
Becoming an NBA Star with the Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings picked Peja as the 14th overall player in the 1996 NBA draft. He joined the Kings for the 1998–99 NBA season. After two seasons, he had a breakout year in 2000–01. He averaged 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, shooting 40% from three-point range. He was almost named the Most Improved Player that year.
Peja became an NBA All-Star for the first time in 2001–02. His scoring went up to 21.2 points per game. He also won the NBA Three-Point Contest twice, in 2002 and 2003, showing off his amazing shooting skills.
In the 2003–04 season, Peja was an All-Star again and had his best scoring year, averaging 24.2 points per game. He was one of the top players in the league, leading in free-throw percentage and three-pointers made. On December 16, 2014, the Sacramento Kings honored Peja by retiring his number 16 jersey.
Playing for Other NBA Teams
In 2006, Peja was traded to the Indiana Pacers. He then signed with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets for five years. In November 2006, he scored a career-high 42 points in a game. Injuries affected his time with the Hornets, but he helped them win a franchise-record 56 games in the 2007–08 season.
In November 2010, Peja was traded to the Toronto Raptors. He played only two games for them due to a knee injury and was released in January 2011.
Winning an NBA Championship with the Dallas Mavericks
On January 24, 2011, Peja joined the Dallas Mavericks. That year, the Mavericks won the NBA championship! Peja played an important role in their playoff run, averaging 7.1 points per game. He scored over 20 points in two different playoff games for the Mavericks.
On December 19, 2011, Peja announced his retirement from basketball. He mentioned ongoing back and neck problems that made it hard for him to play.
After His Playing Career
After retiring, Peja continued to be involved in basketball. In August 2015, he became the director of player personnel and development for the Sacramento Kings. In May 2018, he was promoted to Assistant General Manager. He also served as General Manager for the Stockton Kings, which is the Kings' minor league team. Peja stepped down from his role as assistant general manager in August 2020.
Playing for His Country
Peja was a key player for the FR Yugoslavia national basketball team. He won a bronze medal at the 1999 FIBA EuroBasket in France.
He also won gold medals at the 2001 FIBA EuroBasket in Turkey and the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis. Peja was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2001 FIBA EuroBasket. He was also chosen for the All-Tournament Team at the 2002 World Championship.
Personal Life
Peja became a Greek citizen when he was 17 years old while playing in Greece. He also speaks Greek.
He is married to Greek model Aleka Kamila. They have three children, including Andrej, who plays basketball for the University of Illinois. Peja also runs the Peja Stojaković Children's Foundation. This charity helps improve the lives of children in Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece.
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 | .1 | 8.4 |
| 1999–2000 | 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 |
| Indiana | 40 | 40 | 36.4 | .461 | .404 | .903 | 6.3 | 1.7 | .7 | .2 | 19.5 | |
| 2006–07 | New Orleans | 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 | .0 | 13.3 |
| 2009–10 | New Orleans | 62 | 55 | 31.4 | .404 | .375 | .897 | 3.7 | 1.5 | .8 | .1 | 12.6 |
| 2010–11 | New Orleans | 6 | 0 | 14.8 | .424 | .440 | .857 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .3 | .0 | 7.5 |
| Toronto | 2 | 0 | 11.0 | .700 | .667 | 1.000 | 1.5 | .5 | .0 | .0 | 10.0 | |
| Dallas† | 25 | 13 | 20.2 | .429 | .400 | .938 | 2.6 | .9 | .4 | .1 | 8.6 | |
| Career | 804 | 665 | 33.5 | .450 | .401 | .895 | 4.7 | 1.8 | .9 | .1 | 17.0 | |
| All-Star | 3 | 0 | 14.7 | .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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sacramento | 5 | 0 | 21.6 | .346 | .214 | 1.000 | 3.8 | .4 | .6 | .0 | 4.8 |
| 2000 | Sacramento | 5 | 0 | 25.8 | .400 | .462 | .667 | 3.4 | .6 | .8 | .0 | 8.8 |
| 2001 | Sacramento | 8 | 8 | 38.4 | .406 | .346 | .968 | 6.4 | .4 | .6 | .4 | 21.6 |
| 2002 | Sacramento | 10 | 7 | 33.8 | .376 | .271 | .897 | 6.3 | 1.0 | .5 | .0 | 14.8 |
| 2003 | Sacramento | 12 | 12 | 40.5 | .480 | .457 | .850 | 6.9 | 2.5 | .8 | .4 | 23.1 |
| 2004 | Sacramento | 12 | 12 | 43.1 | .384 | .315 | .897 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 1.8 | .3 | 17.5 |
| 2005 | Sacramento | 5 | 5 | 40.4 | .470 | .367 | .955 | 5.2 | 1.4 | .8 | .2 | 22.0 |
| 2006 | Indiana | 2 | 2 | 25.5 | .444 | .000 | .857 | 4.5 | 2.0 | .5 | .5 | 11.0 |
| 2008 | New Orleans | 12 | 12 | 37.9 | .436 | .549 | .926 | 5.4 | .5 | .5 | .1 | 14.1 |
| 2009 | New Orleans | 5 | 5 | 32.4 | .367 | .308 | .923 | 2.8 | .4 | .8 | .2 | 11.2 |
| 2011† | Dallas | 19 | 0 | 18.4 | .408 | .377 | .778 | 1.7 | .4 | .6 | .1 | 7.1 |
| Career | 95 | 63 | 32.7 | .418 | .376 | .900 | 4.9 | 1.0 | .8 | .2 | 14.4 | |
Awards and Achievements
- NBA Champion: 2011
- All-NBA Team:
- Second Team: 2004
- 3× NBA All-Star: 2002, 2003, 2004
- 2× NBA Three-Point Contest Champion: 2002, 2003
- FIBA EuroBasket MVP: 2001
- Greek Cup Winner: 1995
- Greek League MVP: 1998
- 2× Greek League All-Star: 1996 II, 1997
- Greek Basket League Hall of Fame: 2022
See also
In Spanish: Predrag Stojaković para niños
