101 Greats of European Basketball

Vladimir Stankovic
ny years and a brilliant career, still holds a special place
for him.
A dream come true
From the start of his career, Igor knew that his main
goal was playing in the NBA. Every step he took was
making sure he got closer to realizing his dream. After
the 1999-00 season, still with Crvena Zvezda, he
spent the pre-draft camp with the Washington Bullets,
but once the draft arrived, it was Minnesota that drafted
him with the 51st pick. That very same summer,
Rakocevic played with Yugoslavia at the 2000 Olympic
Games in Sydney, Australia without much success.
Canada, led by Steve Nash, eliminated his team in the
quarterfinals. Rakocevic signed a one-year contract
with Minnesota but terminated it before the start of
the season and returned to Yugoslavia. However, he
did not go back to Zvezda. Instead, he joined Buducnost
Podgorica. Signing with the Montenegrin team
allowed him to make his debut in the newly-found
EuroLeague. In his first season, Rakocevic averaged
14 points.
The following summer, he made another dream come
true, winning the gold medal with Yugoslavia at EuroBasket
2001. The following season, he averaged 17.7 points
in the EuroLeague and in August of 2002, he added the
World Cup title to his personal roll of honors. Rakocevic
helped Yugoslavia become 2002 world champions in
Indianapolis with a great team that also featured the
likes of Vlade Divac, Predrag Stojakovic, Dejan Bodiroga,
Milan Gurovic, Marko Jaric, and Milos Vujanic.
Rakocevic helped Buducnost win two Yugoslav
League titles and added a Yugoslav Cup trophy in
2001. Finally, Rakocevic made his NBA dream come
true in the 2002-03 season, signing for the Minnesota
Timberwolves. He played 42 games before being
sidelined in spring due to an ankle injury. His numbers
were quite different than those he put up in Europe
(1.9 ppg.), but at least his biggest wish had come true.
Rakocevic still dreamed about the NBA and played the
2003 summer league with Minnesota, then another
one with San Antonio, but ended up signing with ...
Zvezda!
Spain, a second home
Putting away his NBA plans, Rakocevic had looked
for an opportunity to sign a good contract in Europe.
Instead, he returned to his original club and took that as
a second-chance possibility, making the most out of it.
He averaged 19.3 points in the 2002-03 EuroCup, 23.2
points in the Adriatic League and 22.6 points in the
Yugoslav League, more than enough for some teams
to keep an eye on him. Valencia Basket offered him a
one-year contract and he didn’t hesitate to sign. He was
sure that playing in one of the best domestic leagues
in Europe was just what he needed. He averaged 18.6
points in the next season’s EuroCup and 21 points on
47% three-point shooting in the Spanish League. At
that point, Rakocevic getting a call from Real Madrid did
not surprise anyone.
Things did not go too well for him in the Spanish
capital, even though his numbers and shooting percentages
(14.8 ppg., 40% 3FG) were not bad. He missed
a good part of the season and was sick with parotitis
(mumps) in the playoffs. Apparently, the club did not
have confidence in his physical condition, unlike Tau
Ceramica, which offered him a three-year contract. Rakocevic
accepted, and it happened to be a great move.
Rakocevic says now that he spent the best three years
of his professional career in Vitoria.
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