My interview with Dino Radja

[DavorFanCroatia]

Hay guys. My name is Davor Vitkovic from Croatia. I was long-time writer in Croatian basketball magazine "Kosarka" and i consider myself basketball historian. Celtics fan from 1986. (i was 10 years old then).

I recently had a Celtics related interview with former Celtics star Dino Radja. Maybe someone will find it interesting...

DV: Dino, by many Celtics fans you are considered the best foreign player to ever wear Celtics green. How do you feel about that?

Radja: Well, the Boston Celtics are the most storied franchise in basketball history, and to be considered the best of anything in club with such rich tradition is big honor.

DV: Celtics drafted you in 1989., but you arrived in Boston in 1993. Do you regret that you didn't have a chance to play with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale?
Radja: Sure. Larry is one of the greatest players ever and Kevin was unstopable in the post. But i believe everything happens for a reason. I believe that for my career Italian experience was useful. It make me tougher player. Maybe i stayed in Italy one year too long, but overall i don't have many regrets. I believe that my career had a very logical trajectory.

DV: In your rookie season you started great. Won „Rookie of the month“ award in first month of the season in competition with Chris Webber, Penny Hardaway, Jamaal Mashburn... What do you believe was the reason for such start?

Radja: Work. Hard work. I trained like crazy for five months. When training camp arrived i was the fittest player there. I was determined to start. I wasn't ready to be someone's backup.

DV: Do you believe that the fact that season before Drazen Petrovic was selected All-NBA third team helped you? Reduced the scepticism of a European players?

Radja: Well, not su much. When i came in the NBA, there were still a lot of mistrust toward Europen players. I was widely considered one of the greatest european player. I have won two Olimpic silver medals, one versus the only Dream Team. I have won 2 European titles with National team and 2 Europen titles with Toni Kukoc in Split. I was a star everywhere i played, but in the NBA i started from bottom. In first practices i carried the bags. I was just a rookie.

DV: Yeah, those were a diferent times. You were pick #40 as one of the best european players who had proved himself. In later years unproved players were selected #2 like Milicic or #5 like Tskitishvilli...

Radja: Totally diferent times. Basketball wasn't yet a global sport like today.

DV: You had a specific style of play. I remember reading that Shaquille O'Neal hated playing against you?

Radja: (Laughs) Shaq was so strong. But i knew that i could score against him. I was much quicker and i could knock down mid-range shots. In the defense you needed help from your teammates.

DV: Who was your toughest opponent?

Radja: I played in the era with many great bigs. O'Neal, Olajuwon, Robinson, Ewing, Mourning, Mutombo, Malone, Kemp... Unlike today when you don't have a true center. The one player who gave me a lot of problems were Derrick Coleman. He wasn't quick, but he was left handed and very tough cover. And i hated playing against Karl Malone. He was a dirty player. Constantly hiting people, but he was protected by referees. Especially against europen rookie.

DV: Who was your favorite teammate on Celtics?

Radja: I really liked our playmaker Sherman Douglas. He was a great guy. And one player who helped me the most with his advices was Xavier McDaniel. X-man was cool guy, veteran always ready to help.

DV: Do you feel any bitterness about how your career in Boston ended?

Radja: Not at all. There were a lot of changes. Pitino took the reign. You must know one thing. For me, basketball wasn't about money. It was about competition, love for the game. I remembered after the losses many of my teammates making jokes, signing and playing cards on the plain. I was wired differently. I took every loss personaly. When it was clear that Celtics will rejuvenate the team, i asked them to trade me to the contender. I wanted to play for something again. But they traded me to Philadelphia, one of the worst teams in the NBA. I just came from knee surgery and doctors in Philadelphia were suspicious. The trade fall apart and i later worked buyout with Celtics leaving a lot of money on the table.

DV: After Boston, you went to Greek?

Radja: I have fulfilled my dream to play in the NBA. Now i wanted to compete. Every game to mean something. I have won two Greek league championchips. Later i came home and won two Croatia league championhips.

DV: Many former Boston Celtics players stayed in touch with the organization. Does this applies to you to?

Radja: Definetly. I'm still in touch with some people in the organization. Everytime i'm in town we meet and go for a drink. I took my son to NBA Finals when we played the Lakers. I have a lot of friends in Boston and i'm proud to be a part of Celtics family. When Celtics played in Milano i came up to training and Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens stoped training to introduce me to current team.


That's it guys...
I made an interview with former Celtics center Stojko Vrankovic too...if you like Radja's interview i can post it Vrankovic's too in few days...

Have a nice day, greetings from Croatia

[truth18]

Awesome stuff. I figured Malone was a dirtbag on court as well as off. As much as I like Stockon as a person, and Sloan in general, I'm glad those Jazz teams never won it all. Interesting that Coleman was his most frustrating opponent. Please post the Stojko one when you can.

Great post. I love this forum.

[BillessuR6]

Hvala, Davor.

I used to read Kosarka back in the day.

Great interview, I would love to read Stojkos intervew too.

[Berkcelt]

Thanks for sharing that, Davor. Me three, to read the Stojko interview.

Really nice to hear Dino still feels part of the Celtics family and went to the Finals and was introduced to the current team in Italy. I know the history and tradition and fraternity of the Celtics is often touted as a great thing, but it's nice to actually hear/see evidence of it.

[DavorFanCroatia]

Thanks guys... i will post Stojko's interview tommorow

[Crossy2008]

Great interview!!

Kind of sad to be reminded of the Pitino era though. Too bad Dino couldn't have came into a more stable environment. That was probably the most dysfunctional time period in Celtics history. ML Carr and Pitino kicking Auerbach to the side and not having the nerve to actually tell him personally.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Awesome stuff. I figured Malone was a dirtbag on court as well as off.

I still get a chuckle when I think of Vanessa Bryant's face when Malone said he was "hunting little Mexican girls". And then I get a another chuckle about Kobe getting mad, then realizing that he can't beat Malone up in a fight, so he then goes to the Lakers' front office to snitch on him.

[tlee324]

Nice!

[Murta]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. More tidbits than his past two interviews of his I read.

[SMTBSI]

Good stuff, Davor, thanks.

Solid questions that get interesting, articulate answers. Very enjoyable interview.

[timpiker]

Great interview. Thank you so much for sharing. I always liked Dino a lot. Just wished he could have played on some better teams. I wish we had Dino in his prime right now.

[Slax]

Thanks for the interview! Dino was a really good player in his prime. It's a shame his body wasn't really built for an 82-game NBA season, because he was really talented.

[mbsnmisc]

Thanks, professional interview. You are good at your job.

[Heinsohn Truth]

I remember rumors that he smoked like a chimney. If so, all the more impressive.

We send David Lee, and our 2nd round pick to Europe for Dino and Jiri and we have a deal tomorrow. Veteran toughness, inside out combo, I can talk myself into this.

Edit: great interview by the way. I like your unassuming delivery.

[Ed Pinkney]

Great interview!!

Kind of sad to be reminded of the Pitino era though. Too bad Dino couldn't have came into a more stable environment. That was probably the most dysfunctional time period in Celtics history. ML Carr and Pitino kicking Auerbach to the side and not having the nerve to actually tell him personally.

Exactly how I feel. So many good players from that era who coincided with the Gaston/Carr/Pitino pu-pu platter. And a lot of them are to this day some of my favourite all time Celtics - Dee Brown, Reggie Lewis, Rick Fox, David Wesley etc. Dino was definitely in that boat. He was a gun offensively, solid rebounder, used to struggle on the pick and roll a lot I seem to recall. I remember someone like Horace Grant at the time saying Dino was one of the few power forwards that "scared" him to guard.

Imagine what a different 20 years they would have had if they got Duncan, kept their good players (like Fox, Wesley, Dino etc) and (if the stories were true) hired Larry Bird as GM and Larry Brown as coach.

[Curmudgeon]

I liked Dino: good offensive player. But by the time to 2000 Olympics rolled around he looked like Jabba the Hut.

[return2glory]

Thanks for sharing. Great interview!

Dino was the man. Those were bad teams when he played with the Celtics. But I loved Dino.

[ParticleMan]

Fantastic interview, good questions. I love that Dino is still part of the family. He was such an oddball when he played, a euro big man who played a finesse skill game. Now so many bigs everywhere play like him. He was a trendsetter in a way.

[FakeScreenName123]

this is good work. cool stuff

him giving derrick coleman talent props and hating on karl malone meant everything to me


Dino was my 3rd chronological favorite Celtic. Between Reggie and Todd Day... then Antoine

[165bows]

That's great he's still in touch with the team. I hadn't heard much about him recently, glad the current group reached out.