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- Geoff Petrie will never forget the day he “discovered” Peja. The 17-year-old was beginning his career with PAOK and the Sacramento GM witnessed him draining jumper after jumper in practice. A classic jump-shooter himself, Petrie new the real deal when he saw it.
- Peja is one of five multiple winners of the three-point contest at the NBA's All-Star Weekend. The others are Larry Bird, Jeff Hornacek, Craig Hodges and Mark Price.
- Peja represented Yugoslavia in the 2000 Olympics.
- Peja was named the NBA’s top European basketball player for 2001 by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Euopre’s top-selling newspaper. Past winners include Drazen Petrovic, Toni Kukoc and Arvydas Sabonis.
- Peja was named
MVP of the 2001 European Championships, which Yugoslavia won.
Peja was second in the NBA’s Most Improved Player voting in 2001.
Peja was selected to play in the 2002 NBA All-Star Game. He nailed three three-pointers and finished with 11 points in 18 minutes. - For a 2002 article, Basketball Digest assembled a team of experts to rate the NBA’s foreign imports. Peja edged Dirk Nowitzki for #1.
- Peja was one of a record six international players to perform in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. The others were Tim Duncan (Virgin Islands), Dirk Nowitzki (Germany), Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Lithuania), Steve Nash (Canada) and Yao Ming (China).
- Peja was extremely disappointed when the Kings dealt Vlade Divac prior to the 2004-05 season. A rumor surfaced that he might be traded to the Pacers for Ron Artest, but Artest’s meltdown in Detroit ended any possibilities of a deal.
- Peja hit 49 free throws in a row during one stretch in 2004-05. He finished third in the NBA from the line at 92.0%.
- In practice, Peja takes 100 three-pointers without pausing. He often makes more than 70 and once canned 87.
- The defender Peja least likes to face is Rick Fox. The physical forward has a knack for throwing him off his game.
- Peja now gets a louder ovation than any King when he is announced.
- He is also a favorite of NBA fans on the road—a rare feat for an enemy sharpshooter.
- Peja’s English is practically flawless.
Geoff Petrie, 1971-72
Topps
Drazen Petrovic,
1993 Topps Archive
Dirk Nowitzki, 2003
Topps