50 Greatest NBA/ABA Players Not In the Hall Of Fame
By Phil Watson
Copyright 2005 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
Peja Stojakovic was part of the first wave of European talent to find its way to the NBA, joining the Sacramento Kings in 1998 — two years after the Kings took the Croatian sharpshooter with the 14th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft.
He started his NBA career slowly, playing as a rotational player off the bench his first two years before breaking out in 2000-01, averaging more than 20 points per game.
Stojakovic established himself as Sacramento’s top long-range threat by 2001-02. A career .450/.401/.895 shooter, Stojakovic twice led the NBA in free-throw shooting and remained effective even after back problems began to slow him down in 2006.
Stojakovic was an All-NBA selection in 2003-04, finishing fourth in the MVP voting that season, but his tenure with the Kings ended in January 2006, when he was dealt to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Ron Artest (later known as Metta World Peace).
He left the Pacers that summer, going to the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in a sign-and-trade deal.
After missing all but 13 games in 2006-07 because of his back, Stojakovic returned to help New Orleans to the playoffs in the team’s first year back in the city after Hurricane Katrina forced a two-year relocation.
He was traded to the Toronto Raptors in November 2010 and signed with the Dallas Mavericks in January 2011 after being released in Toronto.
He gave the Mavs shooting off the bench in the playoffs averaging 7.1 points and hitting 37.7 percent from deep as Dallas won its first NBA title. Stojakovic retired that summer.
In 13 NBA campaigns, he averaged 17 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 33.5 minutes per game, spending parts of eight seasons with the Kings.
Stojakovic ranks 18th all-time in both 3-pointers made (1,760) and attempted (4,392) and is fifth all-time in free throw shooting (89.5 percent), while ranking 44th in 3-point shooting (40.1 percent).