Kings great Peja Stojakovic quits front-office job after Vlade Divac steps down as GM
Kings assistant general manager Peja Stojakovic has stepped down a day after Vlade Divac resigned as the team’s general manager.
Stojakovic followed Divac in offering his resignation after five seasons in Sacramento’s front office, the team announced Saturday.
“It has been a great joy and honor to work in the Kings front office for the past five years,” Stojakovic said in a statement issued by the team. “I want to thank the organization and especially the incredible fans around the world for the support over the years. Sacramento will always be home to me and I wish the franchise nothing but the very best.”
Divac and Stojakovic were teammates with the Kings during their best years under former coach Rick Adelman. Stojakovic played for the Kings from 1998-2006. He was a three-time NBA All-Star who finished fourth in MVP voting after finishing second in the league in scoring at 24.2 points per game.
Stojakovic is the franchise’s all-time leader in 3-point goals with 1,070. The Kings retired his jersey in 2014. His No. 16 hangs in the rafters at Golden 1 Center along with Divac’s No. 21.
Stojakovic also played for the Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Dallas Mavericks before he retired in 2011. When Divac was named general manager in Sacramento in 2015, he hired Stojakovic as the team’s director of player personnel and development. In May 2018, Stojakovic was promoted to assistant general manager.
Divac resigned Friday after the Kings finished 31-41 in a season that was shortened to 72 games due to the coronavirus pandemic. Joe Dumars, who joined the organization as an adviser last summer, will serve as interim general manager and executive vice president of basketball operations until a permanent replacement is hired.
Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé said the team will work with Dumars to establish a “long-term strategy for the organization’s basketball operations structure,” including a search for a permanent general manager. The team said no further personnel decisions would be made until a new general manager is in place, but Stojakovic chose to join his friend a Serbian countryman in stepping down.
“We are deeply appreciative to Peja for his contributions and commitment to the Kings and to the city of Sacramento both as a legend and as an executive,” Ranadivé said. “Peja is a pillar of the community and he will always remain a part of our Kings family. We wish him and his family all the best in the future.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2020 at 1:04 PM.
