By Dionysis Aravantinos / info@eurohoops.net
The great Dino Radja was officially inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday night. When he stepped to the podium, the Croatian center gave a heartfelt message straight from the heart to his three children and wife on their help all of these years.
“They are the first ones I want to thank. They suffered the most; I was never home. My mother must be dancing above us somewhere above us right now, happy for me and my father is home battling and is also happy for me. My most important part of my family is here. My boys, you know I’m hard on you often, but it’s for your own good. My wife, my life. All of these people I mentioned before made me a better player, but you made me a better man”.
He also showed great love to the Boston Celtics organization, after thanking, of course, Larry Bird: “Thank you, Larry, for doing this for me,” Radja said after Bird introduced him. “Since day one I loved the Celtics. You know what they say: once a Celtics, always a Celtic!”. He also shared his emotional side, as he admitted that “when I learned the news for the Hall of Fame induction, I couldn’t stop crying for ten days.”
Radja did not know he was nominated this year: “I didn’t know I was nominated at all. A group of guys that I played after the end of my career, did their research, they called the NBA office and so I just want to say thank you. It’s a feeling that… I don’t know, the word has not been invented yet. I was lucky to be born in a great generation, had great coaches.”
Besides, he also praised his former teammate, Toni Kukoc and the late Drazen Petrovic: “I consider Toni, my basketball soulmate. I can play with him even today, with my eyes closed. Drazen Petrovic, another Hall of Famer, he must be very happy, in a better place. I learned a lot from him.”
Along with Dino Radja, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Grant Hill, and Maurice Cheeks were also inducted to the 2018 Hall of Fame class.
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