Vlade Divac

Divac began playing basketball in his home town Prijepolje for the team KK Elan. He began his professional career in Yugoslavia playing for Sloga from Kraljevo, and was immediately noted for scoring 27 points against Crvena zvezda.[11]

In the summer of 1986, Divac was the top star of the basketball transfer season, and he ended up signing with KK Partizan for DM14,000.[11]

In the 1986-87 Yugoslav First League season, with players like Divac, Aleksandar Đorđević, Žarko Paspalj, Željko Obradović, and with coach Duško Vujošević at the helm, Partizan had a "dream team", which won the Yugoslavian League title. In the subsequent 1987-88 FIBA European Champions Cup season (now called EuroLeague), the club failed to reach the top of the EuroLeague, after having lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv in the semifinal in Ghent.[12] Jugoplastika, with Dino Rađa and Toni Kukoč, was a stronger team in the subsequent three years, reigning both in Yugoslavia and in Europe.

Divac had an unusual style compared to most other centers of his generation: despite his height, he possessed good mobility, had good control of the ball, and was a decent shooter. On occasion, he would also act as a play maker. His trademark moves included a mid-range shot at the top of the key and flip shots around the rim, while facing the complete opposite direction. His quirky moves complemented how he liked playing gags on the court: in the 1989 EuroBasket, he lifted teammate Zoran Radović for a slam dunk. In just four professional seasons in Europe, he became the most sought-after big man on the continent, after Arvydas Sabonis.[11]

Drafted into the NBA in 1989 by the Los Angeles Lakers, Divac became one of the first European players to have an impact in the league. Under the mentorship of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, he improved his play and adapted to the American style of basketball. Though he spoke no English, he quickly became popular among his teammates and the public for his charm and joviality. In the 1989–90 season, he was selected into the NBA All-Rookie Team.[11]

Divac earned a reputation for flopping, or deceiving the officials into calling a foul on the other team by purposely falling to the floor upon contact with an opposing player.[13] Veteran NBA forward P.J. Brown claimed that Divac might have been the best of all time at flopping.[14] Divac freely admitted doing so, adding that he usually did it when he felt like the officials had missed some calls and owed him.[15] However, when the NBA instituted anti-flopping penalties in 2012, Divac expressed his support for such rules, stating that he felt players after him were "overdo[ing] it" with respect to flopping.[16] Ian Thomsen, a Sports Illustrated columnist, grouped Divac with fellow international players Anderson Varejão and Manu Ginóbili as the players who "made [flopping] famous", exaggerating contact on the court in a manner analogous to diving in FIBA games.[17]

On July 1, 1996, Divac was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant. After initially considering retirement upon being traded to the Hornets, Divac developed a close relationship with head coach Dave Cowens and flourished in Charlotte's system.[18] On February 12, 1997, Divac scored 18 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and recorded a career high 12 blocks in a 113-100 win over the New Jersey Nets.[19][20] Alongside Glen Rice, Anthony Mason, and Muggsy Bogues, Divac helped the Hornets to a franchise record 54 regular season wins that season. That postseason, Divac averaged 18 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game in a first round loss to the New York Knicks.[21]

The next year, during the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Hornets beat their division rival Atlanta Hawks in the first round, before losing to the defending champion Chicago Bulls in the conference semifinals.[18]

During the 1998–99 NBA lockout, in January 1999, Divac played 2 games for Partizan's eternal rival KK Crvena zvezda, in the 1998–99 EuroLeague season.[22]

His debut for the crveno-beli took place mid-season, on Orthodox Christmas, versus a heavily favoured Žalgiris side led by Tyus Edney, Mindaugas Žukauskas, Saulius Štombergas, and Jiří Zídek Jr. Supported by a raucous home crowd and energized by Divac's arrival, as well as his 16 points and 8 rebounds, Crvena zvezda pulled off a 77–69 memorable upset win.[23]

Divac's brief stint with Crvena zvezda, for which he reportedly got paid US$250,000 per game,[23] immediately became a sore point with KK Partizan fans, who unfurled a banner calling him a traitor, at their club's next game.[23]

The issue of playing for the hated cross-town rival reignited several years later, when Divac returned to KK Partizan as club president. At the time, he stated his decision to play for Crvena zvezda was "a mistake".[23]

On January 22, 1999, Divac signed a six-year, $62.5 million contract as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings,[24] where he played for six seasons alongside fellow countryman Peja Stojaković. Teamed with Stojaković, Hedo Türkoğlu, Chris Webber and Mike Bibby, Divac revitalized the Sacramento Kings franchise. The Kings rose in the NBA ranks, becoming a perennial playoff contender and eventually a championship contender, leading the league in wins in 2001-02.[25] The Kings, however, could not get past the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat them controversially in a 7-game series in 2002,[26] which has later been dubbed by some as the 'greatest tragedy in sports history'.

After the 2003–04 NBA season, Divac became a free agent. On July 20, 2004, he signed a two-year contract to return to the Lakers, part of Mitch Kupchak's plan to overhaul Laker basketball. The Lakers, following a defeat in the NBA Finals, had traded away or released most of their players, including Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Derek Fisher, and more; Divac was supposed to help fill that void.

However, Divac suffered back problems and could not play most of the season, and even when he returned, could only play about nine minutes per game, averaging 2.3 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game in 15 games, he played 8 games early in the season and 7 more in the final month of the season.

On July 14, 2005, 37-year-old Divac announced his retirement, ending his 16-year NBA and 22-year professional basketball career.[27] Divac accepted a position with the Lakers as a European liaison to help with scouting overseas.

The Kings retired Divac's No. 21 jersey in a ceremony on March 31, 2009.[28] Over his 16 years in the NBA, Divac earned over $93 million in salary.[29] In September 2009, he played for the "NBA Generations" team in the 2009 NBA Asia Challenge, a series of exhibitions against Korean Basketball League and Philippine Basketball Association players.[30]

• Yugoslav League Champion: (1987)
• 1988 EuroLeague Final Four: 3rd Place
• Yugoslav Cup Winner: (1989)
• Korać Cup Winner: (1989)

• Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-18 nationals at the 1985 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship in Rousse, Bulgaria
• Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-21 nationals at the 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship in Gmunden, Austria
• Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-21 nationals at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Bormio, Italy, defeating the U.S. team twice in that tournament
• Earned silver medals in 1988 Summer Olympic Games (for SFR Yugoslavia) and 1996 Summer Olympic Games (for FR Yugoslavia)
• Earned gold medals with SFRY at the 1990 FIBA World Championship (Argentina) and with FRY at the 2002 FIBA World Championship (U.S.)
• Earned gold medals at EuroBasket in Zagreb 1989, and Rome 1991 (with SFRY), and in Athens 1995 (with FRY)

• Named to the 1989–90 NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 8.5 ppg and 6.2 rpg for the Lakers
• Appeared in the 1991 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls and averaged 12.1 ppg, 7.5 rpg and 2.4 apg in 121 career NBA Playoff games
• Ranks 4th in Lakers franchise history with 830 blocked shots
• Ranked 2nd on the Kings in scoring (14.3 ppg), rebounds (10.0 rpg, 10th in the NBA), assists (4.3 apg) and blocked shots (1.02 bpg) in 1998–99
• Named NBA All-Star, 2001
• One of only five basketball players born and trained in Europe to play at least 1,000 NBA games (1,134; along with Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol, Boris Diaw)
• One of only five basketball players born and trained in Europe (Peja Stojaković, Dražen Petrović, Pau Gasol and Zydrunas Ilgauskas are the others) to have his number retired by an NBA team

In late 2000, following the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević whose policies Divac had been openly critical of throughout mid-to-late 1990s,[36] Divac and former teammate Predrag Danilović took over their former club KK Partizan. They did so on the initiative of Ivica Dačić, the club's outgoing president and, more importantly, a suddenly marginalized politician who, due to his association with Milošević, was forced to leave his post at the club. Seeing that various state-owned companies and community property were being taken over in a dubious manner during the power vacuum that resulted from régime change, Dačić saw it prudent to bring the club's two former greats as a safeguard against the same happening to KK Partizan. Divac became the club's president while Danilović took the vice-president role.[37]

Freshly retired from playing, Danilović was actually running the club's day-to-day operations since Divac was still very actively involved with the Sacramento Kings at the time. The head coach they inherited, Darko Ruso, finished out the 2000–01 season before they decided in the summer of 2001 to bring back their mentor Duško Vujošević to be the new head coach.

Though the duo never stated so outright, their additional motivation in getting involved with KK Partizan again was perceived to be gaining the upper hand on the club's eventual privatisation process once the new Law on Sports was passed in the Serbian parliament. Since the exact ownership structure of a publicly owned KK Partizan was not and still is not really clear, potential investors decided to stay away, at least until the law came into effect. Divac and Danilović appeared pretty much out of nowhere in this regard but enjoyed plenty of fan and public support because most preferred to see their beloved club owned and operated by its former stars rather than a faceless corporation or a group of politicians, managers, or businessmen close to the ruling coalition. However, after a few years the duo ran out of patience and pulled out of the venture in late 2004 because it became too much of a financial burden with no end goal in sight. While he stopped performing any official functions at the club, Divac continued to be involved with it in a lesser capacity for a few years afterwards.

In October 2005, right after ending his playing career with the Los Angeles Lakers, Divac was hired as the Lakers' European scout, reporting directly to the team's general manager Mitch Kupchak.[38] He left the position in 2006.

In June 2006, through his friendship with Predrag Mijatović, Divac linked up with Ramón Calderón as part of the lawyer's candidate bid for the presidency of Real Madrid.[39] When Calderón closely won the club elections on July 2, 2006, Divac was announced as the head of operations at Real Madrid basketball club though the scope of his job description soon got reduced to consulting duties as president Calderón's adviser for basketball and club's international coordinator.[40][41]

However, Divac's role in the club's day-to-day operations turned out to be largely symbolic, and he even admitted as much in a March 2007 interview for Croatian weekly Globus: "I literally do nothing and I only serve as part of the royal club's image. I only accepted the job because of Mijatović, who is currently the football director at Real".[42] By the end of 2007, following a financial settlement between the two parties, Divac moved on from the post for which he had been reportedly receiving an annual compensation of €300,000.[40][43]

In October 2008, it was announced that Divac would have a political advisory role within the Serbian government as the sports, diaspora, and humanitarian advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dačić.[44][45][46]

Divac was nominated in 2000 as Yugoslavia's candidate for the Sport Commission of the International Olympic Committee in spring 2000. This candidature was withdrawn under pressure from the Milošević regime.[47] In February 2009, Divac ran for the presidency of the Olympic Committee of Serbia against incumbent president Ivan Ćurković.[48] He won the race after Ćurković withdrew just before the scheduled voting.[8] In November 2012, he was re-elected as the sole candidate; the end of his second mandate coincides with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[9]

In December 2014, Kosovo was accepted as a full member of the International Olympic Committee. Divac and the Serbian Olympic Committee have been criticised, chiefly by the Democratic Party of Serbia, for failing to take any effort to prevent that.[49] Divac stated that he is not happy with the decision of the IOC, but could not have prevented it as it had already been made, and said he would accept it "in the interest of the athletes".[50]

On May 9, 2017, Divac was succeeded by Serbian former basketball coach Božidar Maljković as the president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia.[51]

In early March 2015, Divac was hired by the Sacramento Kings as their vice president of basketball and franchise operations.[52] Brought into the organization by the principal owner Vivek Ranadivé towards the end of a turbulent season, Divac's arrival came in the wake of head coach Mike Malone's firing and the eventual hiring of George Karl. Working alongside the team's general manager Pete D'Alessandro, Divac's initial duties with the Kings were reported to be advising the front office and coaches as well as assisting with branding and fan outreach.[52] However, such broadly defined job responsibilities immediately led to press speculation about Divac's role within the organization that in addition to general manager D'Alessandro also featured assistant GM Mike Bratz, special assistant to the GM Mitch Richmond, director of player personnel and analytics Dean Oliver, adviser to the chairman Chris Mullin, as well as a head coach, Karl, who has always wanted to be involved in personnel issues.[53] Within a month of Divac's hiring, ESPN's Marc Stein reported that "despite the Kings not yet announcing their new power structure, Divac is indeed already regarded as the team's top basketball official by owner Ranadivé".[54]

On June 10, 2015, two weeks before the NBA draft, general manager D'Alessandro left the Kings by accepting a front-office position with the Denver Nuggets amid reports he did so due to being stripped of his decision-making power after Ranadivé hired Divac.[55][56]

Only days before the draft, animosity between head coach Karl and the team's star center DeMarcus Cousins reignited, as Karl reportedly lobbied Divac, as well as multiple players on the Kings' roster, in order to make the case to owner Ranadive that Cousins needed to be traded.[57] As a result, against the backdrop of Cousins calling Karl a "snake" on Twitter,[58] Divac reportedly discussed multiple Cousins trade scenarios with various teams, but ultimately no deal got made.[59] At the 2015 NBA draft, with the 6th pick, the Kings selected 21-year-old center Willie Cauley-Stein out of Kentucky. Less than a week following the draft, with the dissolution of the Karl—Cousins relationship on public display, the Kings' ultimately unsuccessful attempt at landing University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari to replace Karl was reported.[60]

In early July 2015, in an effort of clearing salary cap space in order to immediately go after free agents, the Kings agreed to a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, sending Nik Stauskas, Carl Landry, and Jason Thompson, along with the Kings' future first-round draft pick to the Sixers as well as the rights to swap first-round picks in 2016 and 2017 while receiving the rights to Sixers overseas players Artūras Gudaitis and Luka Mitrović in return.[61] Two days later, they announced the acquisitions of two free agents: 29-year-old Marco Belinelli on a three-year US$19 million contract and 29-year-old point guard Rajon Rondo for one year for US$10 million.[62] This was followed by signing twenty-six-year-old center Kosta Koufos for four years and US$33 million with his role envisioned as the backup for Cousins.[63]

With the free agent signings done, Divac turned his attention to attempting to mend the relations between the team's head coach Karl and its star center Cousins ahead of the 2015-16 season, admitting publicly on July 9, 2015 on CBS Sports Radio's The Jim Rome Show that the relationship between the two "isn't pretty right now".[64] A few days later, on July 13, 2015, during a 2015 NBA Summer League game in Las Vegas, the two shared an awkward on-camera handshake as Karl approached and Cousins reluctantly shook the coach's hand before turning away.[65][66] Later that week, Divac summoned Cousins and Karl to a private counseling session.[66]

Divac was promoted to the Kings' vice president of basketball operations and general manager on August 31, 2015.[67]

Amid a tense[68] and incident-filled[69] season that saw the team briefly reach the final playoff spot in the Western Conference before unravelling with extended losing streaks in late January and early February 2016, the organization reportedly made a decision to fire their head coach George Karl during the upcoming All-Star break, a move pushed for by Divac.[70] However, in a quick about-face, Karl got retained after meeting with Divac and reportedly pledging to make changes to address concerns within the organization about his defensive schemes and practice policies.[71] It was later reported that the move to fire Karl on this occasion got scuttled by the Kings minority owners over financial concerns.[72] A month and a half later, in late March 2016, Divac signed a multi-year contract extension with the organization.[73] The team finished the season 33–49, eight games out of the playoffs, good for 10th spot in the Western Conference. Their final season in Sleep Train Arena, the team's home since 1988, it was also their first 30 plus win campaign after seven consecutive seasons of fewer than 30 wins.

Early into the team's offseason, in mid April 2016, the Kings organization fired head coach Karl, a decision made by Divac who had reportedly been pushing for it for months.[72] Within three weeks, during which Divac interviewed head coaching candidates Sam Mitchell, Vinny Del Negro, Mike Woodson, David Blatt, Mark Jackson, Jeff Hornacek, Nate McMillan, Patrick Ewing, Elston Turner, and Corliss Williamson,[74] the Kings hired Dave Joerger as their new head coach, signing him to a four-year deal worth US$16 million.[74] At the 2016 NBA draft, with the 8th pick, the Kings selected Marquese Chriss out of the University of Washington, but traded him to the Phoenix Suns for rights to Bogdan Bogdanović as well as the Suns' 2016 draft 13th and 28th picks, Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissière, respectively.

At the 2017 NBA draft, with the 5th pick, the Kings selected point guard De'Aaron Fox out of Kentucky. At the 2018 NBA draft, the Kings selected Marvin Bagley III with the second overall pick, passing on Luka Dončić who would become a MVP candidate within two years into his NBA career.[75] In 2018–19 season the Sacramento Kings finished 9th in the Western conference. However, the season was evaluated as successful for the Kings.[76]

The 2019–20 NBA season was suspended in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Sacramento Kings were invited to the 22-team 2020 NBA Bubble. However, the Kings did not manage to qualify for the playoffs, their 14th consecutive season without a playoff appearance, and finished the season with a 31–41 record. Shortly thereafter, on August 14, 2020, Divac stepped down as general manager.[77]