Peja Interview

#1
In an interview he gave to his former team in Greece, PAOK BC and its official site, Peja Stojakovic touched upon his NBA career, trade demands he made, the Greek national team and possibility of having played for it, as well as the Olympic games which had just ended.

Q: Are you happy with your NBA career?
A: I am. The way my career is going, I think everything is good and I don't have a reason not to be happy. I believe I am at the prime age for playing basketball and will be for 4-5 more years.

Q: Did you ever believe you could be the league's 2nd leading scorer?
A: I didn't believe it. The way my career was going, I believed I would eventually be in the top ten, but the top two? I never thought that.

Q: It's well known that the Kings do not want to trade you as they can't find a player of equal value as you. What are you thinking of doing from at this point?
A: Becasue I have a contract with my team, and they have the final say, I will honor whatever they decide if I'm not traded by October 1st.

Q: Will you insist on a trade even if it doesn't happen?
A: Yes, I will. There are still opportunities for something to happen during the regular season.

Q: Which team would you like to be traded to? On which team would you like to play?
A: There isn't any particular team in my mind, but I would like to go to ateam that is on top, on a team that has the potential to be in the play-offs and win a championship. There are few teams with such potential, and usually
when you ask for a trade from a Western conference team, you end up in the East. It would be best for me to go to a city I like and one that has a very good team, but on the flip side, basketball is my job and that is what's most important to me.

Q: After the end of your NBA career, would you like to return and finish off your career with PAOK?
A: I don't have any problem returning to finish my career with PAOK, this I think you all understand. However, I don't know when this moment will come, at what age and in what condition I will be then.

Q: What is your ideal team, with Stojakovic at the 3?
A: Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, Jason Kidd. I don't think they'd have any problems beating any opponent without me.

Q: Which player do you admire?
A: I don't have any particular player in mind, but I have had an opportunity to see almost all the great players from Yugoslavia. I also had the chance to be teamates with some of those, or face them as opponents.

Q: Would you like to play for the Greek national team?
A: That is a topic that I had discussed in the past. They had asked me years ago, and I had said I wanted to, but when the league and Players' Union didn't want me, that was the end of the discussion. I don't think we need to say anything else. I don't think there is any reason to insist, because since I've played for Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia), we've won the European and World Championship. That topic is done now.

Q: Who is the tougest opponent that you face?
A: I think that Bruce Bowen is very tough. He's very smart, he studies and learns the opponent. He knows how to guard him and he prepares himself very well before each game.

Q: Did it bother you that you didn't play in the Olympic games?
A: I would have wanted to play, but the reason I didn't is well known. I watched quite a few games on TV and I was sad to see Serbia finish so low, but I can't do anything, nor do I want to say anything further on the matter.

Q: How do you analyze the disappointment of the US team in the Olympic games?
A: If all the good players had come, such as Garnett, Shaq, Kobe, do you think Argentina would have had a chance to win? Simply put, Aregentina was lucky, just as we were in Indianapolis. It was on a bad day, it's one game and this result came. I feel the Europeans feel more loose, because many play in the NBA and they've gotten used to the game and players they will face.

http://www.paokbc.gr/interview-stojakovic.htm


 
#2
"Q: Which team would you like to be traded to? On which team would you like to play?
A: There isn't any particular team in my mind, but I would like to go to ateam that is on top, on a team that has the potential to be in the play-offs and win a championship. There are few teams with such potential, and usually
when you ask for a trade from a Western conference team, you end up in the East. It would be best for me to go to a city I like and one that has a very good team, but on the flip side, basketball is my job and that is what's most important to me."

the kings have the potential to win the championship, but i don't think peja believes that anymore. he has been saying that the kings need a change, and that the same core group of guys can't be together for more than 5 years. can this be another reason that he wants out? does he really believe that the kings can't win the championship and need a change? he is a perfect fit for the kings. i really can't imagine why he wants to leave. he has been very successful with the team, and he is loved by everyone. sigh..

the drama, the drama..
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#3
Just once, I would like to see a player make a comment that's a little different.

I would love to see just one of them say:

What team? Hey, I wanna be the big fish in a little pond. I want to play for a team that has more people on the court during a game than in the stands. I want to be able to get out of the parking lot after work without a lot of traffic. I want to be able to take advantage of those off-season vacation specials you can still get in mid-April. Send me to a team full of losers!!
;)
 
Last edited:
#4
living legend >> thanks for posting that!

ya, it was sad to see serbia finish so low in the olympics. i remember one of the commentators say that just before the games started, peja and vlade were volunteering to play but the coach refused. oh well... still was a fun olympics.
 
#5
Hmm...maybe its just me, but if I'm Peja and I intend on "insisting" for a trade, I'm not telling it to some Greek newspaper. I'm accepting all calls and interview requests from Aileen Voison, Mark Kreildler and Marty McNeal. Heck, I make it a point to call poison every day. I'm calling every local sports caster and telling my side of the story. I'm putting the pressure on Sacramento in Sacramento not overseas where less than half of Sacramento and Kings fans will hear/read about it.

Dear Peja,

Fire your agent!
 
#7
ReinadelosReys said:
Dear Peja,

Fire your agent!
Why are people (not just you, I've seen others say it also) suggesting Peja should fire his agent?

Are you suggesting by creating pressure on the Kings organization, Peja's agent is working independently of Peja's requests, or that it's the agent, and not Peja, who wants him to be traded?

Peja is trying to get traded. Why would he fire the guy who's doing whatever can be done to make that trade happen?
 
A

AriesMar27

Guest
#8
Its whatever to me, I dont want to see him traded but if he is, I wont lose any sleep over it. Maybe he should fire his agent, maybe he should just shut up and honor his contract and maybe I should have chosen the right lotto numbers last week.

Oh well, maybe next time.
 
#9
AceKingSuited said:
Why are people (not just you, I've seen others say it also) suggesting Peja should fire his agent?

Are you suggesting by creating pressure on the Kings organization, Peja's agent is working independently of Peja's requests, or that it's the agent, and not Peja, who wants him to be traded?

Peja is trying to get traded. Why would he fire the guy who's doing whatever can be done to make that trade happen?
i believe that their feelings are that peja's agent is the reason he's asking to be traded by filling his head with things like "your wasting your best years here","you should be the star not in someone else's shadow", and other poison like that. which may or may not be in his(peja's) best interest more than they are the agent.

but who knows. right about now i'm thinking if he wants to go, trade him.
 
#10
does anyone here know who peja's agent is? i am curious who he has for stateside representation, especially with all the trade-demand-absurdity that has gone on in the past few months. maybe that would spell out some of it?
 
#11
Just_Lurkin said:
i believe that their feelings are that peja's agent is the reason he's asking to be traded by filling his head with things like "your wasting your best years here","you should be the star not in someone else's shadow", and other poison like that. which may or may not be in his(peja's) best interest more than they are the agent.

but who knows. right about now i'm thinking if he wants to go, trade him.
maybe, but i don't think it's a big mystery why peja wants out. i'd be more likely to believe it's what vlade and his wife have told him more than his agent.
 
#12
Just_Lurkin said:
i believe that their feelings are that peja's agent is the reason he's asking to be traded by filling his head with things like "your wasting your best years here","you should be the star not in someone else's shadow", and other poison like that. which may or may not be in his(peja's) best interest more than they are the agent.

but who knows. right about now i'm thinking if he wants to go, trade him.
if he plays his game, makes shots, and carries the team, he can be the star and step out of whoever's shadow. what's keeping him from doing that is my question.
 
#13
drgibbs said:
if he plays his game, makes shots, and carries the team, he can be the star and step out of whoever's shadow. what's keeping him from doing that is my question.
didn't he do that all last season until #4 came back into the lineup?
 
#14
AceKingSuited said:
maybe, but i don't think it's a big mystery why peja wants out. i'd be more likely to believe it's what vlade and his wife have told him more than his agent.
personally, i hope this trade demand has nothing to do with vlade. i'd have more respect for him if he thought the whole team/franchise stunk.
 
#16
AceKingSuited said:
didn't he do that all last season until #4 came back into the lineup?
At times. People conviently forget that Peja has a nasty habit of getting taken out of his game by physical defenders, with or without #4 on the floor. Go back and take a look at his production against the teams that ended up in the play-offs. He hangs 34 on Minny the first game in November, then the next time we see them, first of December, they body up on him a bit more, he goes 6-16 in a loss, eeriely reminiscent shooting percentage wise to his performance against that same team in the Play Offs. He goes 6-14 in the first San An game, couple weeks later, in the rematch, he goes 6-18 (below his normal shooting percentage) and we lose.
The point being, Peja needs to figure out how to deal with the holding, grabbing, etc. that give him fits. Playing somewhere else isn't going to make players suddenly stop defending him that way.
It's very convenient to place all the blame on CWebb, but Peja's shooting percentage actually went UP in the months following Chris' return. It went down in the Play Offs. What changed? More physical defense allowed, for one thing.
 
#17
Kingsgurl said:
At times. People conviently forget that Peja has a nasty habit of getting taken out of his game by physical defenders, with or without #4 on the floor. Go back and take a look at his production against the teams that ended up in the play-offs. He hangs 34 on Minny the first game in November, then the next time we see them, first of December, they body up on him a bit more, he goes 6-16 in a loss, eeriely reminiscent shooting percentage wise to his performance against that same team in the Play Offs. He goes 6-14 in the first San An game, couple weeks later, in the rematch, he goes 6-18 (below his normal shooting percentage) and we lose.
The point being, Peja needs to figure out how to deal with the holding, grabbing, etc. that give him fits. Playing somewhere else isn't going to make players suddenly stop defending him that way.
It's very convenient to place all the blame on CWebb, but Peja's shooting percentage actually went UP in the months following Chris' return. It went down in the Play Offs. What changed? More physical defense allowed, for one thing.
Sooo, you're saying Peja is a head case? He gets frustrated and can't make a shot? I'd have to say I've thought it was more in Peja's head than in his ability. His confidence seems to vanish and he becomes invisible. Wasn't it CWebb that allegedly said, "If he's scared, don't pass him the ball!"
 
#18
Moderate head case;) Nothing he can't overcome, IMO. However, he needs to face up to challenges, instead of trying to run away, as a logical first step in that direction. Just like after his first season, when Vlade had to convince him to stay in the NBA because it wasn't quite as he envisioned it.
 
#19
Kingsgurl said:
Moderate head case;) Nothing he can't overcome, IMO. However, he needs to face up to challenges, instead of trying to run away, as a logical first step in that direction. Just like after his first season, when Vlade had to convince him to stay in the NBA because it wasn't quite as he envisioned it.
Now that Vlade is gone, maybe his absence will help Peja grow up. No more girlie man Peja. ;)
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#20
JoMama said:
Sooo, you're saying Peja is a head case?
I think she's saying...

Kingsgurl said:
Peja needs to figure out how to deal with the holding, grabbing, etc. that give him fits. Playing somewhere else isn't going to make players suddenly stop defending him that way.
Guys like Hassel, Bowen, etc. have Peja's number big time. When we get to the playoffs and play the same team repeatedly, those teams tend to do everything they can to take Peja out of his game - and it seems to work.

All these people who want to blame Webber's performance on the court for Peja's problems seem to forget they've been playing together for a long time.

These guys are professional basketball players. I firmly believe that come training camp they'll get together and they'll resolve their differences. What they really want to do is play basketball. I'm reasonably sure they'll find a way to do so.
 
#22
Kingsgurl said:
Moderate head case;) Nothing he can't overcome, IMO. However, he needs to face up to challenges, instead of trying to run away, as a logical first step in that direction. Just like after his first season, when Vlade had to convince him to stay in the NBA because it wasn't quite as he envisioned it.
And now he's trying to get out and leave the Kings instead of answering his critics and "facing up to challenges." Nothing's changed. Are we sure we still want him here?
 
#24
I think this whole ordeal stems from the fact that Vlade wasn't signed to a contract by the Kings. That's when Peja learned he doesn’t have much clout within the organization. The trade request is probably part of a bigger agenda to give Peja more of a voice within the organization.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t really want to be traded, but he gets something out of it whether he gets traded or not. The Kings will now definitely be more attentive to his needs and less likely to brush him off when he makes requests.
 
#25
Packt said:
I think this whole ordeal stems from the fact that Vlade wasn't signed to a contract by the Kings. That's when Peja learned he doesn’t have much clout within the organization. The trade request is probably part of a bigger agenda to give Peja more of a voice within the organization.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t really want to be traded, but he gets something out of it whether he gets traded or not. The Kings will now definitely be more attentive to his needs and less likely to brush him off when he makes requests.
My sentiments exactly.
 
#26
Im gettin tired of hearing peja wants out of Kings organization. We better get something good in return fast before the time runs out. GP.. work your magic already!.
 
#27
AceKingSuited said:
Why are people (not just you, I've seen others say it also) suggesting Peja should fire his agent?

Are you suggesting by creating pressure on the Kings organization, Peja's agent is working independently of Peja's requests, or that it's the agent, and not Peja, who wants him to be traded?

Peja is trying to get traded. Why would he fire the guy who's doing whatever can be done to make that trade happen?
I say that... ::looking for a word::...not meaning that. Sarcastically/tounge n cheek almost. If Peja indeed wants out, from my seat, his agent isn't doing everything that needs/could be done.