"I've Always Wanted to Be a Star" - Predrag Stojakovic of the Sacramento Kings continues to make the transition from European to American basketball

Basketball Digest, March, 2001 by Olivier Pheulpin

This season, Predrag Stojakovic's wish is coming true, and if Chris Webber blows out of Sacramento next season, "Peja" will have a new tag--franchise player

THERE IS NOTHING AS CRAZY ASA night in the Arco Arena.

Just ask the Seattle SuperSonics, who paid a visit to Arco and were accommodated with a hostile 125-101 blitzing by the Sacramento Kings last November 25. What's crazier still is that the evening's high scorer wasn't the high-profile Kings, Chris Webber or Jason Williams, or even Eurovet Vlade Divac, but Predrag Stojakovic, with 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting.

After the game, Stojakovic was all the rage in the locker room. After all, this was his coming-out game. But you see, Peja is not much help to journalists. He unwittingly taunted the hungry horde by exchanging quiet words with Divac. in front of the microphones, but other wise kept a polite silence with reporters.

Let's be nice and say that Peja lets his game do the talking, which is probably a good thing, given his fast start to the season. Yes, he lit up Seattle for a career game, but Stojakovic hasn't exactly sloughed off since then. Despite a shoulder injury that sidelined the sharpshooter for seven games, Stojakovic is meriting serious consideration for the NBA's Most Improved Player. More than anything, he's just thrilled to be averaging nearly 40 minutes a night after sitting behind Corliss Williamson for his first two NBA seasons.

"Those first two years were very tough," Stojakovic says. "It was hard being a top player in Europe and then coming here and being the eighth or ninth man coming off the bench. It was very tough for me to get playing time, but I was very patient, while working hard to show what I could do."

For those two years he was strictly an outside shooter, not driving into the paint with any regularity. For two years Stojakovic tried to put up good numbers in limited minutes, shooting the three and then sitting down again. Times have changed: The one-dimensional player of yesterday is now blossoming into an all-around star.

Before this season, Peja was clearly too shy on the court, and now that his game has evolved, he has matured in his role as a starter. Coach Rick Adelman now trusts Stojakovic enough to run one-on-one isolations for him and let him break his man down. That says a lot about how the Serb has grown as a player, to the point that he is now the Kings' No. 2 option after Chris Webber,

In 1999-2000, Peja played 23.6 minutes per game and shot a consistent .448 from the floor. But this year he's both a a leader on the stat sheets (19.6 points on .477 shooting and 6.7 rebounds) and on the floor. The more responsibility Stojakovic is given, the better he seems to play.

Another thing that's clear is how happy Peja is, with his starting role and his new 6-year, $45 million contract It's also evident he relishes the pressure his new role and contract brings: "That's what I've wanted all the time--to be a star," Stojakovic says. "To be a big part of this team. It looks like it's going to happen. Of course people are going to talk about the new contract and the pressure. But it makes me hungry. It makes me want to prove to everyone I deserve it.

"In Greece, on the team I played on (PAOK), I was the No. I option. There was a lot of pressure on me. I don't want to run from that. I have been waiting for this. All the people are going to have bigger expectations, not only for me but for the whole team."

Another budding star, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, was wowed last November 12 after watching Peja peel apart his Mavericks for 28 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Says Nowitzki, who along with Stojakovic is the best European player in the league right now: "He hurt us badly, and it's easy to see why. He is playing with confidence. Basically, we are both in the same situation It took us two years to really make our mark, but now we now know exactly what the coaching staff wants from us. We know what to expect. And he is so much better defensively."

Coming from the mouth of a fellow European, that's not an idle comment. Everybody in the league is impressed with Peja's emergence and how he has become a true nightmare for opponents with his varied arsenal. He used to be another guy with an unpronounceable name who was too slow, too soft, and weak on D--in other words, too European. With hard work and patience, Stojakovic is breaking down those stereotypes.

"When you're a starter, you're not thinking about how you have to do something immediately. You can just let the game go," Stojakovic says. "You're not chasing the game. The game comes to you slowly. I think I improved my defense in these last two years. It's probably the main thing I have to keep doing, because this kind of defense is a new thing for us European players."

It's not that Peja never saw defense played while in Europe. He might just not have seen good defense. "Honestly, in Europe, they don't play this kind of defense, tough and strong," he says. "They play more dirty defense over there. Here, it's more clean and strong defense, and you have to be tough."