Peja Drobnjak (born 27 October 1975) is a Montenegrin professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

scout and former player. At , he played at the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

positions. Throughout his nineteen-year career, Drobnjak has spent three full seasons playing in the NBA.

Professional career

Europe

Drobnjak started his professional career with

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

in the 1992–93 season. He played six seasons for Partizan, winning three national titles in a row (1995, 1996 and 1997). In his last year with the club, Drobnjak played in the EuroLeague Final Four, where they finished fourth, after losing in the semifinals to Kinder Bologna, and in the third-place game against Benetton Treviso. Before the 1998–99 season, Drobnjak signed with Efes Pilsen, in Turkey. Drobnjak stayed for the next three seasons with Efes.

NBA

Drobnjak was a second-round draft choice of the

Washington Bullets The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

in the 1997 NBA draft. During his time in the NBA, Drobnjak played two seasons for the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, one season for the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

, and one season for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. In 2004, the Clippers made him available for selection by the

Charlotte Bobcats Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populou ...

in the

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

. After his selection by the Bobcats, Drobnjak was subsequently traded to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for a 2005 second-round draft pick before playing a game for Charlotte.

Return to Europe

In July 2005, Drobnjak signed a three-year contract with

Tau Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

in Spain. However, he was released after only a year, which followed by his signing a one-year contract with his former team

. In July 2007, he signed with

Akasvayu Girona Club Bàsquet Sant Josep was a professional basketball team based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. History The club was founded in 1962 by Ramon Sitjà as CB Sant Josep. In 1989 it became the Anonymous Sport Association (SAD). In 1987, when the ACB ...

. In December 2007, he left Girona and signed with

Beşiktaş Cola Turka Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

for the rest of the season. In November 2008, Drobnjak returned to Efes Pilsen for the 2008–09 season. In the 2009–10 season, Drobnjak played in the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

with PAOK. In February 2011, he signed with Iraklis until the end of the season. However, he decided to retire later that month.

National team career

Drobnjak won gold medals at both the 1998 and 2002 FIBA World Championships, and he also won a gold medal at the

EuroBasket 2001 The 2001 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 2001, was the 32nd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 2002 FIBA World Championship, giving a be ...

, while playing with the senior Yugoslav national team.

Post-playing career

In 2015, Drobnjak was named a scout for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 2001–02 , align="left" ,

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, 64 , , 12 , , 18.3 , , .461 , , .000 , , .753 , , 3.4 , , .8 , , .3 , , .5 , , 6.8 , - , align="left" , 2002–03 , align="left" ,

, 82 , , 69 , , 24.2 , , .412 , , .353 , , .791 , , 3.9 , , 1.0 , , .6 , , .5 , , 9.4 , - , align="left" , 2003–04 , align="left" , L.A. Clippers , 61 , , 14 , , 15.6 , , .393 , , .306 , , .849 , , 3.2 , , .6 , , .4 , , .4 , , 6.3 , - , align="left" , 2004–05 , align="left" ,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, 71 , , 1 , , 20.2 , , .438 , , .352 , , .800 , , 3.4 , , .7 , , .6 , , .3 , , 8.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 278 , , 96 , , 19.9 , , .425 , , .340 , , .799 , , 3.5 , , .8 , , .5 , , .4 , , 7.9

Playoffs

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, 3 , , 1 , , 12.7 , , .333 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.7 , , .7 , , .3 , , .0 , , 3.3