Vlade Divac

Vlade Divac (Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

At 7ft 1in, Divac played center and, unlike many centers, was known for his passing skills.

He was among the first group of European basketball players to transfer to the NBA in the late 1980s and was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

He is one of seven players in NBA history to record 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists, and 1,500 blocked shots, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and Pau Gasol.

Divac was also the first player born and trained outside the United States to play in over 1,000 games in the NBA.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Veteran NBA forward P.J. Brown claimed that Divac might have been the best of all time at flopping.

Divac freely admitted doing so, adding that he usually did it when he felt like the officials had missed some calls and owed him.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Divac was named to the FIBA All-Time EuroStars Team in 2007.

In October 2008, he was appointed as government adviser in Serbia for humanitarian issues.

In February 2009, he was elected President of the Serbian Olympic Committee for a four-year term and re-elected in November 2012.

On August 20, 2010, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his play in international competition.

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.

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.

In 2013, Divac received an honor from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

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.

He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.

Divac is a humanitarian, helping children in his native country of Serbia and in Africa.