Peja Stojakovic, Forever a King

and walk onto the field one last time to retire with old team.

How much would you love to see Peja come onto the court for 30 seconds against LA and then walk off to a standing O.

There was a game against the [redacted] and Rick Fox thought he would switch things up and start talking smack to Peja to see if he could get in his head – then Peja went off in that game? I was trying to see if I could find clips from it specifically online, but I know it happened.

Peja was overrated!!! He was soft n just a shooter.

At his best, he could do a little bit of everything, rebound, pass, and defend (the “Dirk Stopper”!).

And on one glorious occasion, he was the “Nash Stopper”.

Love me some Peja, my heart was hoping he’d play one more season here in Sacramento, but I can see why he won’t.

Definitely deserves the jersey retirement. I was glad and lucky to see him play so many good years, and I cheered him much more than those occasions when I yelled at him. :-) Thanks, Peja.

…you were one of my favorite Kings. I’ve never cared much for All-Star weekend myself, but watching you win the 3pt contest is my favorite memory of All-Star weekend by far. (Although Reke’s Rookie game MVP was pretty cool it’s not quite on the level.)

I remember when your selection was boo’d because the fans wanted John Thomas, I remember the argument whether Corliss Williamson or yourself was better, and I remember your 38 points you dropped in Game 5 at Phoenix to help the Kings clinch their first post-season series victory. I remember the air-balls, the injuries, and all the other nonsense that later followed too. But, like most Kings fans, I remember your good points and still to this day you are the best SF the Kings have ever had. Well wishes in your post-basketball career.

Dropping 41 points on James Posey and the Memphis Grizzlies.

After the game, Peja said that Posey would always remember the beatdown because the 41 points matched his jersey number.

Peja was one of my favorite Kings. For a while I wanted to name my first kid Peja Stojakovic Manich (still haven’t found a woman ready to roll with that one). He got a lot of heat for disappearing in the playoffs, but people often forget that he was pretty clutch. If he had an open shot to win a game, he would win that game. He lead plenty of fourth quarter comebacks.

But it does lead to an interesting point. I think that when Bibby finally decides to call it a day, we should hang his jersey right up in the rafters next to the other three. Which would make four retired jerseys off of a single team. It would be pretty unprecedented, especially considering they never won a chip. But I think it would be warranted. It’s something I’ve noticed when talking to my friends that are Warriors fans. They all remember that team as Webber being the clear star. He was one of the best powerforwards in the game, and the best on the team, but not by that much. People tend to forget that Peja was having an MVP season until Webber came back from his knee injury. That team was perfectly crafted.

You were/are one of my favorite Kings.

Thanks for the memories Predrag, and congrats on the great career.

I could watch that shot over and over again.

I was a 3pt specialist for my high school, and even though my HS career was over before we drafted him (so it would have been a Passat time traveling impossibility to model my game after his), I have to admit that I had nostalgic daydreams every time I saw him shoot the ball.

Peja definitely deserves to be up in the rafters. Hell, if I had my way, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

I wish him all the best, and we really need to retire his jersey.

with a nice Peja memory.

the greatest/saddest thing I have ever read on STR.
Peja is my favorite player of all time and I still had a tiny bit of hope that he would be here for his last year. We better retire his jersey I want to wear his jersey and scream his name again.
Guy was the nicest basketball player I ever met and was so underrated for his defense and his ability to move without the ball.

I love every player from those days.

sigghhh Nostalgia.

Enjoy retirement, sharpshooter.

Words cannot describe what we felt for that team and it’s individual talents. Great players, and more importantly, great people. Not many fans can have the kind of bond we share with our players. From the first man to the last, we each had a connection with them. I know we all get that “feeling” when talking about the glory days and it’s players. That feeling lets us know we’re a passionate fan who loved the players more importantly for who they were and not necessarily how they played. That special aura that surrounded Sacramento back in the good ol’ days. The days when the town was always purple and pumped for Kings basketball. I dont want to get too carried away because I’m having a hard enough time typing this. Thank you Peja. Thank for EVERYTHING you have given us. You are an awesome person and a hell of a player. I’ll never forget waiting in line for 5 hours to meet you at Raley’s in folsom when I was 7 years old. Thank you Peja, have an amzing life. :’)

Thank you Peja for helping make me a Kings fan. You were one of my favorites and you guys have a special place in my soul.

Akis said it all, nothing more to add.

Rec’d.

Was it Folsom Lake Ford or someone like that?

♫ Oooh ooooh….♫

he’ll go down as my all time favorite King as well. I could watch him shoot all day long.

Thanks for the memories, Peja.

he’s the reason for one of my favorite plays in Kings history … even though it came in a loss

OH WAIT

(sidenote: someone tell those cowtown maniacs to keep it down, you can barely hear the announcers in most of this clip.)

Good Feet, better shot
balanced out Sac’s greatest teams
Splash, nothing but net

Love this line.

At recess, I’d infuriate my friends by camping at the three point line and jacking it up every time I had it (so I guess I was more like Andres Nocioni than Peja).

That had my laughing my tail off. Great line in a great write up.

retire the man’s jersey!

But thanks for all of the memories, Peja. I would’ve loved for you to end your career in Sacramento, but I understand and respect the reasons for choosing to retire at this time. You’ll always be a King and, like C-Webb said on Twitter, you should be retiring with two rings.