Peja Stojakovic suited up for five teams in his 13-year NBA career and during a recent appearance on the Knuckleheads Podcast, he was asked to give his ultimate starting five using himself and four former teammates.
“Chris Webber… Power forward,” Stojakovic said. “… I think Vlade (Divac) was the best center but in today’s game, I would take Dirk (Nowitzki) to put him on the five. I would take Dirk on the five.
“I would take (Jason Kidd),” Stojakovic continued. “… I played with J-Kidd only for six months and this is not any knock on Chris Paul but J-Kidd, I think he changed the game when he came out of college… His ball had a different energy.
“And shooting guard… You know what? Let’s put the best team out there,” Stojakovic stated. “I would go with Chris Paul at the one, J-Kidd at the two, myself, Chris Webber, and Dirk Nowitzki.”
Stojakovic sure got to play alongside some special players in his career.
Chris Paul is his point guard and he is one of the greatest floor generals we have ever seen. Paul has career averages of 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 9.3 assists, 2.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game. He has made 12 All-Star teams, 11 All-NBA teams, and nine All-Defensive teams. Paul has also led the league in assists five times.
Jason Kidd slots in at the shooting guard spot and is another all-time great floor general on this team. Kidd averaged 12.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 8.7 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game in his career. He made 10 All-Star teams, six All-NBA teams, and nine All-Defensive teams. Like Paul, he too led the league in assists five times.
Chris Webber comes in at power forward and was one of the finest at the position at his peak. Webber averaged 20.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game in his career. He won Rookie of the Year and made five All-Star teams and five All-NBA times. Webber led the league in rebounding once as well.
Dirk Nowitzki is the center and is easily the best player Stojakovic ever played with. Nowitzki averaged 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game in his career and is one of the greatest players of all time. He won a title, a Finals MVP, and an MVP in his career while making 14 All-Star teams and 12 All-NBA teams.
I think Stojakovic, who had career averages of 17.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.1 blocks per game, did a pretty good job with his picks. The 47-year-old played alongside notable names like Vlade Divac, Jermaine O’Neal, David West, and Jason Terry too, but none of them have a strong case to replace any of his four selections.
Peja Stojakovic Plays ‘Start-Bench-Trade’ With Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, And Klay Thompson
During this episode, Stojakovic also played the ‘start-bench-trade’ game. The players given to him were Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, and Klay Thompson and his response was quite interesting.
“I’m going to say Reggie to start because he was one of those guys that I looked up (to) because I wanted to play like Reggie,” Stojakovic said. “I wanted to learn how to use the screens like Reggie. How to get open. I want to go with older players like Reggie, Ray, Klay.”
This was quite a difficult one in my opinion. You can make a case for either of these three to start, but the choice was simple for Stojakovic, as he grew up watching Miller and wanted to play like him.
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