SRB/USA – Stojakovic brings the curtain down

DALLAS (NBA/FIBA) - Basketball has seen the last of one of the great shooters in the history of the game with the 34-year-old Peja Stojakovic announcing his retirement.

Stojakovic, who first played professionally as a 14-year-old for Red Star Belgrade before moving to Greece and competing for PAOK, has decided to end his 13-year NBA career because of back and neck problems that made competing at the highest level so difficult in recent times.

The leading scorer on Yugoslavia's gold-medal winning team at the 2002 FIBA World Championship in Indianapolis at 18.8 points per contest, Stojakovic last represented his national side at EuroBasket 2003 when he and his Serbia and Montenegro teammates came in sixth.

Stojakovic made just a couple of short appearances with Yugoslavia at EuroBasket 1999 in France and played in his only Olympics when the Games were held in Sydney.

His best summer in a national team jersey came in 2001 when he shot 51.4% (18 of 35) and averaged 23 points per contest in leading Yugoslavia to EuroBasket gold in Istanbul.

In the NBA, Stojakovic’s 1,760 three-pointers rank fourth all time.

He averaged 17 points per game and shot a blistering 40% from behind the arc in the league.

He spent the majority of his career with the Sacramento Kings from 1998 to 2006.

After appearing in 40 games with Indiana, he moved to New Orleans for the 2006-07 campaign and played with the Hornets for five seasons.

Stojakovic played two games with the Toronto Raptors last season and ultimately joined Dallas in January before helping fire the team to their one and only NBA title.

In a statement, Stojakovic said: ""I feel so blessed to have been given the athletic gifts to play professional basketball.

"I have always loved the game and have great respect for it and I know the time is right to step away. I promised myself a long time ago, if it came to the point where my heart and body were not 100% committed, I would step away.

"I have reached that point and I know the time is right to retire.

"I want to thank the great fans in Sacramento, Indiana, New Orleans, and Dallas who supported me throughout the years.

"I also want to thank the Dallas Mavericks for believing in me this past season and for giving me the chance to end my NBA career with a championship."

David Stern, the NBA commissioner, also paid tribute to Stojakovic.

In a statement, Stern said Stojakovic would "go down as one of the great shooters in the history of the NBA" and added: "Peja was part of the wave of international stars that helped introduce the world to the NBA game and inspired thousands of fans to begin playing the sport of basketball."

What next for Stojakovic?

"I look forward to taking some time to spend with my wife, Aleka, and my three children," Stojakovic said.

"I will slowly figure out the next steps in my life and determine what my second career will be. I'm sure I will stay involved in basketball in general and the NBA in particular."

FIBA