Toni Kukoc's Real Name Is Tony Petrelli

[Euroleague]

Since everyone in this board is still calling him "Toni Kukoc", I figured it is time to inform the NBA only fans here that his actual real name is Tony Petrelli.

"Toni Kukoc" is a "Slavizied" form of his name. Due to the fact that many, many people in Croatia are of course Italians, during a certain time of the communists in Yugoslavia, in the Federal State of Croatia, they "Slavizied" Italian names.

So names like Tony Petrelli became "Toni Kukoc", to make them look Slavic and not Italian.

In the time after the Yugo wars, and after Croatia became an independent country, Italians living there were "de Slavizied" back to their regular family names.

And the Italian names are no longer changed that way.

And yes, many Croatian basketball players are Italians.

It's just stupid that every NBA only fan keeps calling him "Toni Kukoc" though.

[ShawkFactory]

Gay

[BuffaloBill]

OP's real name is *******

[SugarHill]

Says Kukoc on the back of the jersey so you're wrong. Period.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/the_more_you_know_nbc.gif

[Euroleague]

OP's real name is *******

Yeah, you wish.

[KembaWalker]

This makes me laugh, like we need too know and/or give a sh*t

It's just stupid that every NBA only fan keeps calling him "Toni Kukoc" though.

It said Kukoc on the back of his jersey in the NBA so WE as fans are stupid for calling him that? :biggums:

Go wipe your butthurt tears with VSpan stat sheets

[Droid101]

http://www.nbajerseys.org/jerseys/Chicago%20Bulls/toni%20kukoc%20chicago%20bulls%20red%20road%20jers ey.jpg

[outbreak]

Vassilis Spanoulis's real name is Βασίλης Σπανούλης only an idiot wouldn't call him Βασίλης Σπανούλης.

[artificial]

This could (and is) a fairly interesting trivia, but instead in the very first post the guy is calling everyone stupid, in an effort to show how inferior he thinks NBA fans are, and resulting in an offensive, useless, merely argument starting thread begging to be filled with trolling.

Additionally, as usual there are no links. Story could be true, but OP has quite poor credibility.


How was this guy unbanned? :biggums:

[outbreak]

This could (and is) a fairly interesting trivia, but instead in the very first post the guy is calling everyone stupid, in an effort to show how inferior he thinks NBA fans are, and resulting in an offensive, useless, merely argument starting thread begging to be filled with trolling.

Additionally, as usual there are no links. Story could be true, but OP has quite poor credibility.


How was this guy unbanned? :biggums:
Would be good if he provided actual info. From his first post it makes me think Toni himself changed his name where as I bet the actual info will be from when his ancestors migrated or something like that which happens all the time.

[QuebecBaller]

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/s2k2yTOpcQ8/maxresdefault.jpg

[TheMarkMadsen]

Big fat tony petrelli

[Euroleague]

Would be good if he provided actual info. From his first post it makes me think Toni himself changed his name where as I bet the actual info will be from when his ancestors migrated or something like that which happens all the time.

I just told you that the state of Yugoslavia decreed that they had to make their names sound like they were Slavs. Kukoc didn't change his name.

His name was always Petrelli. But it became illegal to have an Italian sounding name in Yugoslavia during a certain time, when it was decreed that everyone had to be a Slav. Even if they were Italian.

After Croatia got independence all names were changed back, because they were just made up names. Kukoc is not a Slav.

If you don't believe it, you can go look at rosters of Croatian teams and see how many Italians play in them and they have Croatian nationality, but they have names like Paolo Marinelli, Mario Hezonja, etc.

Because Croatia is loaded with Italian people.

But under the communist rule, someone like Paolo Marinelli would be called "Pavel Marinovic" or something like that. Mario Hezonja would be called "Marko Markovic" or something.

That's the point.

And to say his NBA jersey said Kukoc does not mean anything. Because all the NBA does is take whatever name is written down on the passport. They don't go by birth certificates.

Obviously, people should have already been able to figure that out by now when they had Ersan Ilyasova using an incorrect name and birth year, Yi using an incorrect birth year, Biyombo said to have the wrong age, Mutombo and Hakeem saying they were older than their listing, and that guy Majok that also had the incorrect birth year. Even Hedo has an incorrect listing by the NBA.

Because the NBA just goes by a passport. Not a birth certificate. So when the state decrees that they are changing your name, that's what they put on your passport, and then the NBA just copies whatever is on your passport (NBA policy) and that is what goes on your jersey.

[The Iron Sheik]

wow op is capable of making a good thread after all

[sick_brah07]

well maybe we can mention he got a nose job to playa

[Jud]

No it's not. Stop bullshitting

[ralph_i_el]

What name did they put on his checks?

[PejaTheSerbSnip]

Where did you even get that name from? That's just ridiculous.

[LongLiveTheKing]

Nothing came out on Google about his "real name"

[Bosnian Sajo]

Croats are Italians??? :roll: :roll: :roll:

Someone please get all our Balkan posters in here to laugh at this moron, is Pauk still around? He'd get a kick out of this. This thread is the only thing that comes up on google when you type in Toni Kukoc real name :facepalm

[kennethgriffin]

Toni Kukoč (pronounced [kukotʃ]; born September 18, 1968) is a retired Croatian professional basketball player.


nope

if even a handful of people knew about this it would already be researched and verified on his wiki page

[jstern]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiqLvI8PnQs

[tomSR.]

why post lies ??

[GOATbrook]

OP is ****ing crazy...I'm Croatian and this kind of BS is unbeliveable...


OP is on crack.:biggums:

[tomtucker]

now tell the story of sicilians........:D

[Nikola_]

OP is literally worse than lebron

[julizaver]

Since everyone in this board is still calling him "Toni Kukoc", I figured it is time to inform the NBA only fans here that his actual real name is Tony Petrelli.

"Toni Kukoc" is a "Slavizied" form of his name. Due to the fact that many, many people in Croatia are of course Italians, during a certain time of the communists in Yugoslavia, in the Federal State of Croatia, they "Slavizied" Italian names.

So names like Tony Petrelli became "Toni Kukoc", to make them look Slavic and not Italian.

In the time after the Yugo wars, and after Croatia became an independent country, Italians living there were "de Slavizied" back to their regular family names.

And the Italian names are no longer changed that way.

And yes, many Croatian basketball players are Italians.

It's just stupid that every NBA only fan keeps calling him "Toni Kukoc" though.

I am not Croatian, but I think that mods should close and delete that thread. It is offending for the Croats here and have nothing to do with BASKETBALL. It as bad as a thread can be - trolling at it's worst.

[dunksby]

now tell the story of sicilians........:D
http://thebigindianpicture.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/dennis-hopper-true-romance-768.jpg

[KobesFinger]

If I introduced myself to you as Joe, we became friends and then say 20 years later I say my real name is John, would that make you an idiot for not knowing?

Also, source?

[sportjames23]

His mama call him Kukoc, I'ma call him Kukoc.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

List of players that have played in Europe that were better than Anthony Parker (in no order):

Drazen Petrovic
Toni Kukoc
Epi
Dino Radja
Antonella Riva
Dragan Kicanovic
David Andersen
Felipe Reyes
Nikola Vujcic
Jorge Garbajosa
Alexander Belov
Vladimir Tkachenko
Pablo Prigioni
Igor Rakocevic
Ioannis Bourousis
Antonis Fotsis
Jordi Villacampa
Ibrahim Kutluay
Giorgos Kolokithas
Modestas Paulaskas
Pier Marzorati
Nikos Zisis
Mirza Delibasic
Valeri Tikhonenko
Peja Stojakovic
Arturas Karnisovas
Pau Gasol
Andrei Kirilenko
Alberto Herreros
Sergei Bazarevich
Mirsad Turkcan
Ivo Daneu
Zarko Paspalj
David Rivers
Zoran Savic
Rimas Kurtinaitis
Luis Scola
Sergey Belov
Kresimir Cosic
Drazen Dalipagic
Peja Danilovic
Arvydas Sabonis
Nikos Galis
Panagiotis Giannakis
Sarunas Marciolionis
Hedo Turkoglu
Bob McAdoo
George Gervin
Byron Scott
Dominique Wilkins
Oscar Schmidt
Manu Ginobili
Sarunas Jasikevicius
Juan Carlos Navarro
Theo Papaloukas
Ramunas Siskauskas
Dimitris Diamantidis
Vassilis Spanoulis
Milos Teodosic
Vlade Divac
Sasha Djordevic
Radivoj Korac
Dejan Bodiroga
Dino Meneghin
Linas Kleiza
Carlton Myers
Alphonso Ford
Erazem Lorbek
Danilo Galinari
Andrea Bargnani
Nikola Mirotic
Ricky Rubio
Jose Calderon
Rudy Fernandez
Jaka Lakovic
Marcus Brown
Ersan Ilyasova
Milos Vujanic
Andres Nocioni
Nikola Pekovic
Tiago Splitter
Dejan Tomasevic
Gregor ****a
Beno Udrih
Memo Okur
Arvydas Macijauskas
Gianluca Basile
Nicolas Batum
Milan Macvan
Wayne Brabender
Fernando San Emeterio
Mirza Teletotic
Marcelo Huertas
Walter Berry
Velamir Perasovic
Orlando Woolridge
Rolando Blackman
Bob Morse


I am sure I left out about another two to three dozen, at LEAST, more probably way more even. Hell, I am sure I am leaving out a whole bunch of guys from the 70s and 80s, but it's hard to remember them all.

Americans that have played in Europe that were as good or better than Anthony Parker:

Marcus Brown
Trajan Langdon
Mike Batiste
George Gervin
Bob McAdoo
Byron Scott
Dominique Wilkins
JR Holden
Nikos Galis
David Rivers
Alphonso Ford
Terrel McIntyre
Chuck Eidson
Jeremy Pargo
Derrick Hamilton
Terence Morris
Keith Langford
Bo McCalebb
Malik Hairston
Pete Mickeal
Louis Bullock
Wayne Brabender
Walter Berry
Orlando Woolridge
Rolando Blackman
Bob Morse
Gary Neal
Mike D'antoni


I am sure I left out a whole bunch. That's all I can even remember now, but a whole bunch of other American players that were more or less about as good as, or better than Anthony Parker played back in the 80s and 90s, I just can't remember them all off the top of my head.

In other words, you are a freaking dumb ass.
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6981692&postcount=67

[SuperCereal]

OP is so right! His name is NOT Toni Kukoc, its Toni Kukoč. Petrelli? OP is phakkit.

[pauk]

As a Croatian who kindof know of entire fr. Yugoslavia history better than you do i would say this is the most ridicilous thing i ever heard...

As far as Toni Kukoc goes, his father Ante Kukoc is Croatian and his mother Radojka Kukoc is Serbian with a Serbian birthname ofcourse, he is half Croatian/Serbian to be accurate, but before the shit went down here he was like the rest of us simply Yugoslavian.... nothing wrong with being Italian... but he is as much Italian as Bill Cosby...

Why would you randomly throw such random lies? WTF...

[sportjames23]

As a Croatian who kindof know of entire fr. Yugoslavia history better than you do i would say this is the most ridicilous thing i ever heard...

As far as Toni Kukoc goes, his father Ante Kukoc is Croatian and his mother Radojka Kukoc is Serbian with a Serbian birthname ofcourse, he is half Croatian/Serbian to be accurate, but before the shit went down here he was like the rest of us simply Yugoslavian.... nothing wrong with being Italian... but he is as much Italian as Bill Cosby...

Why would you randomly throw such random lies? WTF...


Hey, now! Cosby's real name is Cosbelli.

[pauk]

Seriously tho, this dude... no way... we have just been trolled.... :biggums:

[tomtucker]

Hey, now! Cosby's real name is Cosbelli.

His real name is Bill Stupro

[Phenith]

Since everyone in this board is still calling him "Toni Kukoc", I figured it is time to inform the NBA only fans here that his actual real name is Tony Petrelli.

"Toni Kukoc" is a "Slavizied" form of his name. Due to the fact that many, many people in Croatia are of course Italians, during a certain time of the communists in Yugoslavia, in the Federal State of Croatia, they "Slavizied" Italian names.

So names like Tony Petrelli became "Toni Kukoc", to make them look Slavic and not Italian.

In the time after the Yugo wars, and after Croatia became an independent country, Italians living there were "de Slavizied" back to their regular family names.

And the Italian names are no longer changed that way.

And yes, many Croatian basketball players are Italians.

It's just stupid that every NBA only fan keeps calling him "Toni Kukoc" though.

Dude, these are the kinds of posts that get you all kind of hate, especially that last line. Sometime you have some legit bball talk, but this is just a silly rant that makes you look like you want people to hate you.

[SpanishACB]

that feeling of cringe when you see a 20 year old try to act like a smart ass in public by being over complex but missing the most obvious thing: when someone legally changes his name people will usually call him that.

difference being it's a 38year old we're dealing with here

[PejaTheSerbSnip]

As a Croatian who kindof know of entire fr. Yugoslavia history better than you do i would say this is the most ridicilous thing i ever heard...

As far as Toni Kukoc goes, his father Ante Kukoc is Croatian and his mother Radojka Kukoc is Serbian with a Serbian birthname ofcourse, he is half Croatian/Serbian to be accurate, but before the shit went down here he was like the rest of us simply Yugoslavian.... nothing wrong with being Italian... but he is as much Italian as Bill Cosby...

Why would you randomly throw such random lies? WTF...

Jesus haha, "pauk". I didn't think twice about the meaning of the name until now :p

Yeah, OP is high.

[Nikola_]

As a Croatian who kindof know of entire fr. Yugoslavia history better than you do i would say this is the most ridicilous thing i ever heard...

As far as Toni Kukoc goes, his father Ante Kukoc is Croatian and his mother Radojka Kukoc is Serbian with a Serbian birthname ofcourse, he is half Croatian/Serbian to be accurate, but before the shit went down here he was like the rest of us simply Yugoslavian.... nothing wrong with being Italian... but he is as much Italian as Bill Cosby...

Why would you randomly throw such random lies? WTF...

:biggums: His mother is Croatian 1/1

[ralph_i_el]

So he's not the GOAT Croat?

[Eric Cartman]

Groundbreaking stuff :rolleyes:

[MMM]

this thread lacks brotherhood and unity

maybe Tony is really slovenian
:coleman:

[Euroleague]

http://laesquinadesunara.blogspot.com/2013/11/la-primera-metamorfosis-de-toni-kukoc.html

http://foros.acb.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=456347&start=150


That took like 5 seconds to find on Google.

Everyone here calling me a liar, and saying I "made this up", and all the other crap I was accused of in this thread......consider yourself reported to admin.

[Milbuck]

His real name is Toni Kukoc, and he's better than Spanoulis.

[chocolatethunder]

http://laesquinadesunara.blogspot.com/2013/11/la-primera-metamorfosis-de-toni-kukoc.html

http://foros.acb.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=456347&start=150


That took like 5 seconds to find on Google.

Everyone here calling me a liar, and saying I "made this up", and all the other crap I was accused of in this thread......consider yourself reported to admin.
did you even read those pages you posted? Because one guy is claiming that Petrelli is Kukoc's father's last name. There is no source just some rumor on a message board. This isn't a fact, it's some story some anonymous guy posted on a message board.

[Poetry]

http://laesquinadesunara.blogspot.com/2013/11/la-primera-metamorfosis-de-toni-kukoc.html

http://foros.acb.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=456347&start=150


That took like 5 seconds to find on Google.

Everyone here calling me a liar, and saying I "made this up", and all the other crap I was accused of in this thread......consider yourself reported to admin.

I saw those links last night. Those were the only two sites I could find that mention anything about it.

Actually, there are two others links, but Google gives me a malware warning for both. And they both lead to the same address.

So let's say there are 2 vague references made by someone on a forum, and 2 additional references made on a malware-infested site. We have 4 mentions that verify your claim.

Now try to type these into a search engine:

Toni Kukoc
Toni Kukoč

Let me know how many hits you get.

[Poetry]

We have 4 mentions that verify your claim.

Actually, it's just two, I can see part of the malware site claim and it's just quoting the other site.

Type this into a search engine:

"El padre de Toni Kukoc se apellidaba Petrelli, por ejemplo"

And you can see where it originated from. You get 3 results. Just don't click on the address that's made up of numbers.

[beastee]

What is this, ****ing 1996? Euroleague really is the worst.

[Poetry]

This is a perfect example of "Don't believe everything you read on the internet."

[Euroleague]

did you even read those pages you posted? Because one guy is claiming that Petrelli is Kukoc's father's last name. There is no source just some rumor on a message board. This isn't a fact, it's some story some anonymous guy posted on a message board.

A blog from a respected journalist, and a post from a book and an interview with Kukoc.

Also it clearly states that Kukoc was named Petrelli at birth and as a kid, and the state changed his name in the city of Split (it's due to the issues I already explained).

It also says that in Croatia, in Split, he was called Petrelli as a kid, and even that in the youth sports teams and schools he was called Petrelli.

And when asked about it, Kukoc confirms that and answers the question with a Yes answer.

So what the hell else do you need for confirmation?

Sometimes you can be a cool guy, then other times you can be a real dick.

[Poetry]

A blog from a respected journalist, and a post from a book and an interview with Kukoc.

Please post the exact quote from the book, so we can translate it.

Also, what is the name of the book?

[chocolatethunder]

A blog from a respected journalist, and a post from a book and an interview with Kukoc.

Also it clearly states that Kukoc was named Petrelli at birth and as a kid, and the state changed his name in the city of Split (it's due to the issues I already explained).

It also says that in Croatia, in Split, he was called Petrelli as a kid, and even that in the youth sports teams and schools he was called Petrelli.

And when asked about it, Kukoc confirms that and answers the question with a Yes answer.

So what the hell else do you need for confirmation?

Sometimes you can be a cool guy, then other times you can be a real dick.
You're grandstanding about nothing. I defend your knowledge about European basketball all the time here so just chill. But making a statement and then backing it up with a blog post and someone's speculation on a message board is just silly. Not to mention, who cares? Is Sofo Greek? Or Giannis? Who cares? Italy and Croatia are right next to each other. Look at Switzerland. It's full of Germans, French and Italians. It's not really important or relevant in any way.

[pauk]

Do you understand Serbo-Croatian Euroleague? Here he talks about everything including his parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8iyzvZPHU

I dont know why you want him to be Italian so bad? wtf... :lol

[Dr.J4ever]

Do you understand Serbo-Croatian Euroleague? Here he talks about everything including his parents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf8iyzvZPHU

I dont know why you want him to be Italian so bad? wtf... :lol

It's not in English. Could you show the exact part(minute) where he said it and then translate?

[BasedTom]

OP is a racist peice of shit who is devastated that Giannis is the best Greek to ever play basketball.

[outbreak]

even if euroleague is right the main contention of everyone else still stands: why the **** do we care and why does it matter? No one is "stupid" for calling him by the name he has chosen to use in his NBA career. If he wanted to identify himself as "tony petrelli" (which may well be his birth name) then he would have done so but he didn't. Nene's birth name is Maybyner Rodney Hil

[BasedTom]

Let's evaluate the OP

1. from arkansas, yet is obsessed with greek basketball
2. Has been shitting up basketball forums for over a decade (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=316678)
3. Worships Vassilis Spanoulis, a man who averaged 2 points and less than 1 assist a game as a guard
4. hates (ex)-yugoslavian countries and their people
5. falsely claims that certain players are greek without any evidence
6. claims that the NBA is inferior to the Euroleague
7. claims that greek players are being heavily scouted and are a lock to be picked early in the draft...4 years from now (seriously)
8. claims that the euroleague is clean and that nba players are all on peds, meanwhile a former Euroleague player Nick Calathes got busted for it when he made the upgrade to the NBA

[outbreak]

Let's evaluate the OP

1. from arkansas, yet is obsessed with greek basketball
2. Has been shitting up basketball forums for over a decade (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=316678)
3. Worships Vassilis Spanoulis, a man who averaged 2 points and less than 1 assist a game as a guard
4. hates (ex)-yugoslavian countries and their people
5. falsely claims that certain players are greek without any evidence
6. claims that the NBA is inferior to the Euroleague
7. claims that greek players are being heavily scouted and are a lock to be picked early in the draft...4 years from now (seriously)
8. claims that the euroleague is clean and that nba players are all on peds, meanwhile a former Euroleague player Nick Calathes got busted for it when he made the upgrade to the NBA

Some of your claims aren't true. You should replace the false ones with:

claims every game that Greece lose is due to corrupt refs and claims the entire euroleague is rigged against V-span, even claims various countries mafia groups are involved.

compares stats of euro players when they were 15-19 year old prospects playing against grown men in europe to when they are 20-30 in the NBA and then uses that evidence to claim the NBA is easier.

claims NBA teams refused/continue to refuse to play the greatest player in the world, and thus pass up easy championship, purely because of racism.

[Milbuck]

OP is a racist peice of shit who is devastated that Giannis is the best Greek to ever play basketball.
http://media.tumblr.com/e16dd16f4de841b391f118f72714a54e/tumblr_inline_nbat9kBEXc1satqni.gif

[Basketbolero]

OP's real name is Toni Cuckold though

[ArbitraryWater]

Vassilis Spanoulis's real name is Βασίλης Σπανούλης only an idiot wouldn't call him Βασίλης Σπανούλης.

:roll: :roll: