By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Dino Radja will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame class of 2018. He’s the third Croatian player to become a Hall Of Famer, following Kresimir Cosic and Drazen Petrovic who were inducted posthumously in 1996 and 2002 respectively.
In the tweet announcing his induction, Basketball HOF describes the former player of Jugoplastica, Boston Celtics, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and Cibona, among other clubs, as someone who “dominated the International game for decades and led his team to several trophies in EuroLeague, Yugoslav League, Greek League and the Croatian League.”
Radja won back-to-back European Championship titles with the historic Yugoplastica in 1989 and 1990 three years before leaving Europe to join the Celtics. He also won numerous medals with the Yugoslavian and Croatian national teams, including first place in the 1990 World Cup plus the 1989 and 1991 EuroBasket tournaments.
The Croatian basketball legend will become the eighth European player to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame after Sergei Belov (Russia), Kresimir Cosic (Croatia), Drazen Dalipagic (Bosnia), Drazen Petrovic (Croatia), Arvydas Sabonis (Lithuania), Sarunas Marciulonis (Lithuania) and Nikos Galis (Greece).
He dominated the International game for decades and led his team to several ? in the Euro League, Yugoslav League, the Greek League and the Croatian League. We congratulate one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Player’s (‘91) Dino Radja. #18HoopClass
? Nathaniel S. Butler via Getty Images pic.twitter.com/VwRLrXwaya
— Basketball HOF (@Hoophall) March 31, 2018
The 2018 class also includes Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Mo Cheeks, Tina Thompson, Lefty Driesell, Charlie Scott, Rick Welts, Rod Thorn, Katie Smith, and Ora Mae Washington.