Dino Radja claims he'd be the best player in the EuroLeague at 56 y.o. / News - Basketnews.com

Radja says that if there was some magic solution to remove all his nagging injuries and pains, he would need a couple of months of preparation to become one of the best players in the current EuroLeague.

Credit: AP Photo/Elise Amendola - Scanpix Credit AP Photo/Elise Amendola - Scanpix

It's been more than 20 years since Dino Radja finished his basketball career. He is certain he would be a superstar in today's EuroLeague.

Dino Radja

Position:PF, CAge:56Height:211 cmWeight:102 kgBirth place:Split, CroatiaProfileNewsStatistics

Radja has recently been featured in a movie about his life in basketball called 'Radja' (which can be watched for free). The Croatian legend and NBA Hall of Famer has won the EuroLeague twice with Jugoplastika in 1989 and 1990 and is often regarded as one of the best basketball players to ever come from the Balkan region.

"It's like riding a bicycle, once you learn, you can sit down and ride after 50 years." So the two of us would very likely find ourselves on the field if we were to play now," his teammate, Toni Kukoc, said in Radja's movie.

If he was able to prepare for several months with all his injury problems suddenly going away, Radja thinks he would be a superstar in the current EuroLeague if he were to play even at the age of 56 he's currently at.

"I still think we are the best. If there was some kind of magic that would allow me to prepare without my knees, joints, back hurting... I believe that in three months, I would be the best player in the EuroLeague," Radja said in an interview with Milun Nesovic from Meridian Sport.

"Just to be able to do the complete preparations as I envisioned them. No basketball practices, just to be physically ready. I would be the best player in the Euroleague - I guarantee it. In any team," he said.

Radja later backed up the highly controversial statement.

"These are hypothetical stories. Someone will probably have a different opinion. But I simply think that we had an amount of knowledge that it is very rare today. You see Jokic and Doncic who are not physical, but they dominate because they have a knack. They think three steps ahead," Radja said.

Radja has played two seasons in the modern EuroLeague - with Olympiacos Piraeus in 2000-01 and with Cibona in 2001-02. He averaged an impressive 14.1 points and 9.8 rebounds for 20.3 PIR for Olympiacos at the age of 34, and 13.7 points and 9.3 rebounds for 16.7 PIR for Cibona at the age of 35.

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