The NBA Ballers series was a collection of dope games that took their inspiration from NBA Jam and NBA Street. The first edition of NBA Ballers was released in 2004 and was followed up by NBA Ballers: Phemon, NBA Ballers: Rebound for PSP, and NBA Ballers: Chosen One. ‘

While the sequels pale in comparison to the original, all the games had some cool features and included a ton of playable superstars and legends. From Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to Allen Iverson and LeBron James, you had a wide variety of players at your disposal.

But the best player in the series wasn’t any of those people. It was Peja Stojakovic on the original NBA Ballers game ... and it’s not close.

HEAR ME OUT.

Let’s start here: Peja has the highest three-point rating of any non-create-a-player, at 90.

Not Bird (88). Not Reggie Miller (86). Not Ray Allen (82). Stojakovic.

I know your first reaction might be HOW, but calm down. Stojakovic was a monster at that time in his career. In the 2003-04 NBA season, he averaged 24.2 points per game while shooting 43.3 percent from three-point range, so it wasn’t like they just gave him that rating for fun. In addition to the high three-point rating, Stojakovic had a high mid-range rating, so there really wasn’t any stopping him in a one-on-one matchup. Almost the whole court was his range.

In addition to his normal abilities, Stojakovic possessed a hot spot. It was a special spot on the court that basically guaranteed that the shot was going to go in when shot from there. Stojakovic’s hot spot was behind the three-point line, and the location was easy to remember when the spot locator disappeared.

All that, plus he had and the ability to back down the opponent. He was able to use his height to get his shots off over whoever. No one was safe.

On the defensive side, he was a good enough rebounder and had the ability to deflect some shots due to his modest block rating.

The game wasn’t designed with shooters in mind.

The rules and animations for NBA Ballers weren’t designed for three-point shooters. The average player wasn’t playing this game to shoot threes and actually win in the most efficient way. It was built for those who want to have fun first and stunt on their opponent as much as possible before time runs out.

But on higher levels, when unlocking people and earning credits was on the line, sometimes the goal is just to win the match. That’s where Stojakovic came in.

Eventually, people would stumble upon Stojakovic and realize that he’s just TOO GOOD.

The animations favored scoring, so they favored Stojakovic more than even a dominant player like Shaquille O’Neal. This game was not meant for defense. All of the tricks and skill moves that Stojakovic possessed were good enough for him to get his shot off with the defense virtually powerless to stop him. The icing on the cake was the secret shot gameplay move. This allowed a player to basically take some extra steps after he picked up his dribble. The less fun people in life call this traveling.

You already had to be scared of Stojakovic’ threat from deep, but since moves could be used even after Stojakovic picked up his dribble, this made his pump fake the most troublesome move to defend in the game. Look how helpless George Gervin looks in the GIF above. Poor guy.

Situational

For the most part, the games were to 11, counting by twos and threes. That extra point difference over a non-perimeter shooting threat gave Stojakovic a leg up from the jump.

There were some levels that altered the rules to make it easier for him to win. In some of the games, fouls were not recorded. In others games, you played make it, take it. Certain situations and rules played to Stojakovic’s advantage. For example, playing against Alonzo Mourning with a five-second shot clock provided Mourning with an extra challenge because he wasn't as perimeter oriented as Stojakovic was.

The best ways to counter Stojakovic were by using players that possessed the ability to legally goaltend, or if goaltending was legal across the board at a specific level. For some weird reason, not every person that had a high block rating had the ability to legally goaltend. The lucky few that could had the ability to camp under the basket and block the shot. There were also special levels where everyone was allowed to goaltend, but those don’t show up often.

That’s about it, to be honest. It was kind of weird that in a game built around high flying dunks, hip hop, bling, and ankle breakers, the best player to use was Stojakovic, a guy known for shooting.

Not Shaq, Kobe, or Iverson. Peja Stojakovic.

Now you know.