101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
Pritchard, Larry Johnson, Gary Payton, Scott Williams,
Stacey Augmon, Dwayne Schintzius, Brian Williams
and Stephen Thompson. In the group stage game – a
110-95 victory – Kukoc shined with 27 points, including
11 of 12 triples, while in the title game, Pesic changed
the strategy and went for the inside game, where Divac
and Radja shined with 21 and 20 points, respectively.
Title after title
Since 1987, Dino Radja was a must in all the plans
for the Yugoslav national team and for Jugoplastika,
which by then had Maljkovic on the bench. In 1987-88,
Jugoplastika would win the first of four domestic titles
in a row. Then, at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Radja
won a silver medal after losing his first big final with the
national team against the USSR. In 1989, Jugoplastika
would win its first EuroLeague crown at the Final Four in
Munich. In the semis against FC Barcelona (87-77), Radja
scored 18 points, and in the final against Maccabi Tel
Aviv (75-69), he collected 20 points and 10 rebounds. He
was named MVP of the Final Four. That same summer,
after he was selected 22nd by the Boston Celtics in the
1989 NBA draft, he triumphed with Yugoslavia at the
1989 EuroBasket in Zagreb with an average of 9.0 points.
In the summer of 1989, Radja wanted to try his
luck with the Celtics in the NBA. However, in a curious
case, Jugoplastika won a trial in London against the
mighty NBA franchise by proving that Radja still had
a valid contract and could not leave without the club’s
permission. Boston accepted the administrative defeat
and Radja stayed one more year in Split, winning
both the Yugoslav cup and league and, once again, a
EuroLeague crown, this time in Zaragoza, Spain. In the
semis, Jugoplastika defeated Limoges by the score of
101-83 as Radja had 10 points. In a 72-67 victory in the
final against FC Barcelona, Radja had 12 points. Later
that year, because of an injury that he had suffered at
the Goodwill Games in Seattle, Radja missed the 1990
World Cup in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Yugoslavia
won the gold medal.
Radja was a modern center. He was tall (2.10 meters)
and strong enough, but also fast, with good fundamentals,
rebounding skills and a great shot close to the rim.
He played equally well facing the basket or with his back
to it. He was normally faster than his defenders and
that allowed him to score many points. He was always a
reliable contributor for his team and his coaches.
Rome instead of Boston
In the summer of 1990, Radja could finally leave
Jugoplastika and the country, but in a surprise move,
he chose Il Messaggero of Rome. At the same time, the
club signed Rick Mahorn, a former NBA star. Rome’s offer
to Radja was way higher than the one from Boston.
Over the next three years, Radja would average 18.1,
20.2 and 21.5 points with more than 10 rebounds per
game in each season.
It was also on Italian soil where Radja won his last gold
medal with Yugoslavia. The 1991 EuroBasket was played
in June, while the war started in Slovenia, which forced
Jure Zdovc to leave the team before the semifinals.
That was the last time that the great Yugoslavia played
together, and it won the gold medal with no opposition.
Radja’s average was 18.0 points. With Messaggero,
he won the Korac Cup in 1991-92 despite a first-game
tie at home against fellow Italian club Scavolini Pesaro
as Radja had 34 points and 9 rebounds. His team won
the second and final game 99-86 in Pesaro with a big
double-double from Radja, 17 points and 13 rebounds.
That was his third European trophy. The following year,
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