# Whatever happened to Dino Raja?



## Jermyzy

He put up some pretty nice numbers with the Boston Celtics a while back...and then left the NBA? What happened to him and why was he not signed by a NBA team?


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## MightyReds2020

I think the NBA teams gave up on him because he's too injury prone.


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## RetroDreams

Didn't he "quit" the Celtics because of Rick Pitino? I remember Pitino trading him to the 76ers after he had his knee problem and Radja didn't want to go because his then wife was having a baby and he didn't want to move. I believe he failed to report to the Sixers and he left the NBA shortly thereafter.

On top of that, he wasn't keen with the NBA lifestyle and preferred the shorter European schedule from what I remember. Those were the couple factors that lead him back overseas.


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## ThereisnoIinteam

I loved Dino Radja. Everyone picked on him but that guy always gave an effort. He dived for loose balls. He never gave up. Those are the type of players I have always liked.

Last I heard he was over seas playing ball.


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## Jawot

Dino is reported to be back home in Split - Croatia playing for the same team where it all began.
Although he's aging now (he'll turn 36 this year), he's still a classy player.

In his prime time, he was the top big man in Europe as for athletic and technical abilities and, believe me, no big man in the world except for Karl Malone could run the floor so well.
He had a soft touch and a perfect back-up game which helped him adjust quickly to the NBA, tough he never liked the lifestyle.

He did put up nice numbers, especially in 95-96 season (19.7 ppg and almost 10 boards per game). In 1997, recovering from an injury, he preferred to come back to Europe, signing for big bucks and shorter schedule at Panathinaikos

He was also a heavy smoker and often seemed 'annoyed' on the floor: many people think he could have done more, due to his terrific potential


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