Peja Stojakovic on the Sacramento Kings, Lakers playoff battles, championship with the Mavs & More

This week we got one of the OG long-distance sharpshooters, as Peja Stojakovic joins Q and D on Knuckleheads. The Kings legend discusses his journey from Yugoslavia to the States, how he got into basketball, and his quick rise to getting drafted by Sacramento. Peja looks back on those legendary Kings teams, the ’02 playoff series against the Lakers, and what it was like playing with Vlade Divac and Chris Webber, among others. He also touches on how proud he is of the state of international basketball and his thoughts on Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic. Peja was one of the coldest from 3 ever. Tune in!
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00:00 : Intro
00:49 : Who Bust Yo’ Ass?
02:41 : Growing up in Yugoslavia and Playing Professional Ball in Europe
14:21 : Getting Drafted by the Kings
19:06 : Vlade’s Support and Getting Comfortable in the League
25:04 : 2000’s Kings Success, Webber, & Turk
38:41 : All-Star Game and 3-Point Contest
43:34 : Playoff Battles with the Lakers
48:02 : Mike Bibby, 4th in MVP Voting
52:15 : Dismantling of Kings, Moving to the Hornets
57:00 : Championship with the Mavs
1:04:13 : Success of the current International Players
1:08:28 : Start, Bench, Trade
1:09:26 : Peja’s Starting Five
1:11:28 : Peja’s son as a top prospect
1:13:18 : Current Kings Team
1:15:15 : Peja’s First Purchase
1:18:19 : Outro

31 comments

  1. 00:00 : Intro
    00:49 : Who Bust Yo' Ass?
    02:41 : Growing up in Yugoslavia and Playing Professional Ball in Europe
    14:21 : Getting Drafted by the Kings
    19:06 : Vlade's Support and Getting Comfortable in the League
    25:04 : 2000's Kings Success, Webber, & Turk
    38:41 : All-Star Game and 3-Point Contest
    43:34 : Playoff Battles with the Lakers
    48:02 : Mike Bibby, 4th in MVP Voting
    52:15 : Dismantling of Kings, Moving to the Hornets
    57:00 : Championship with the Mavs
    1:04:13 : Success of the current International Players
    1:08:28 : Start, Bench, Trade
    1:09:26 : Peja's Starting Five
    1:11:28 : Peja's son as a top prospect
    1:13:18 : Current Kings Team
    1:15:15 : Peja's First Purchase
    1:18:19 : Outro

  17. As a Kings fan Peja drove me crazy. Awesome in the regular season then disappeared in the playoffs. I still liked him but Sacramento has at least 1 championship if he plays better down the stretch. Still respect Peja.

  21. WOOOOW. PEDJA LEGENDA!!! 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸 ONE OF OUR BIGGEST SERBIAN PLAYERS EVER. We have similar shooter now in Bogdan Bogdanović. And when i watched pick end roll between Bogdan and Jokić it looked like im watching Pedja and Divac again.
    Great podcast. You are literally giving the airtime to players who must not be forgotten. Like Pedja, Andrei Kirilenko, Hedo Turkoglu. Those are players who would be 100+ milion players and much more effective. Pedja for me is top 5 Pure 3-point shooter in NBA ever behind Curry, Reggie, Allen and Klay. He would be DEADLY IN TODAY'S LEAGUE. He had a lot of injuries so he is not in top 5 when it comes to 3point made but i think he is in top 5 or 10 percentage wise.
    And those late late nights in Serbia watching Lakers and Kings series. Maaaan good times.
    And 2002 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN INDIANAPOLIS, in the cradle of basketball winning gold and that legendary win vs USA in quarterfinals (that was a good team: Reggie Miller, Paul Pierce, Ben Wallace, Baron Davis, Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand) that is the greatest memory and one pf the biggest success in our sports history. Vlade and Pedja and Bodiroga (greatest European player that never played in the NBA) were the Leaders.
    37:53 – haahahahaha MARKO JARIĆ ludak. 😆🤣 He was always looking like a fashion model. We always laugh at him but when he was with Adriana Lima nobody was laughing anymore.

  25. Great interview, as always. This is BY FAR the best NBA podcast because y'all LET THE GUEST SPEAK and most of the other ones are just obsessed with listening to themselves! Also, Peja is a great guest. Articulate, enthusiastic, and truly humble – notice how he always spoke about his team and his teammates even when the conversation was about his ASG appearances or MVP votes.

  29. As a Pistons fan in the early 2000s, those Kings teams were my favorite matchups. We talk about Reggie Miller and Ray Allen, but Peja was my favorite shooter. He was like a less athletic, better shooting MPJ back in the day

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