Vlade Divac ( sr-Cyrl, Владе Дивац, ; born February 3, 1968) is a Serbian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

executive and former player who was most recently the vice president of basketball operations and general manager of the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). Divac spent most of his playing career in the NBA. At , he played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

and 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 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

, 3,000 assists, and 1,500 blocked shots, along with

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem (alternatively spelled Karim or Kerim) ( ar, کریم) is a common given name and surname of Arabic origin that means "generous", "noble", "honorable". It is also one of the Names of God in Islam in the Quran. Given name Karim * Karim A ...

Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (; ; born January 21, 1963), nicknamed "the Dream", is a Nigerian Americans, Nigerian-American former professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Ass ...

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

Tim Duncan Timothy Theodore Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "the Big Fundamental", he is widely regarded as the greatest power forward of all time and one of the greatest players in NBA histor ...

Kevin Garnett Kevin Maurice Garnett ( ; born May 19, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player who played for 21 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed KG by his initials, and the "Big Ticket" for his emphatic dunki ...

, and

Pau Gasol Pau Gasol Sáez (, ; born July 6, 1980) is a Spanish former professional basketball player. He was a six-time NBA All-Star and a four-time All-NBA team selection, twice on the second team and twice on the third team. Gasol won two NBA champion ...

.The NBA did not record blocked shots before the 1973–74 season, so earlier players such as

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most V ...

and

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a Center (basketball), center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 yea ...

probably had similar career achievements. Divac was also the first player born and trained outside the United States to play in over 1,000 games in the NBA. On August 20, 2010, he was inducted into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

in recognition of his play in international competition. He was elected to the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

in 2019. Divac is a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

, helping children in his native country of Serbia and in Africa. 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. In 2013, Divac received an honor from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Sloga (1983–1986)

Divac began playing basketball in his home town

Prijepolje Prijepolje ( sr-cyr, Пријепоље, ) is a town and municipality located in the Zlatibor District of southwestern Serbia. As of 2011 census, the town has 13,330 inhabitants, while the municipality has 37,059 inhabitants. Etymology One possibl ...

for the team KK Elan. He began his professional career in Yugoslavia playing for Sloga from

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...

, and was immediately noted for scoring 27 points against

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional Association football, foot ...

Partizan (1986–1989)

In the summer of 1986, Divac was the top star of the basketball transfer season, and he ended up signing with

KK Partizan Košarkaški klub Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Партизан, English: Partizan Basketball Club), commonly referred to as KK Partizan or simply Partizan, is a professional basketball team based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is ...

for DM14,000. In the 1986-87 Yugoslav First League season, with players like Divac,

Aleksandar Đorđević Aleksandar "Saša" Đorđević or Sale Đorđević (Anglicized: Sasha Djordjevic; sr-Cyrl, Александар Саша Ђорђевић, ; born 26 August 1967) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player. He currently serve ...

Žarko Paspalj Žarko Paspalj (Serbian Cyrillic: Жарко Паспаљ; born March 27, 1966) is a retired Serbian professional basketball player and sports administrator. The EuroLeague Final Four MVP in 1994, his sixteen and a half seasons career was mostly sp ...

Željko Obradović Želimir "Željko" Obradović ( sr-cyr, Желимир "Жељко" Обрадовић, ; born 9 March 1960) is a Serbian professional basketball coach and former player who is currently the head coach for KK Partizan, Partizan of the ABA League, ...

, and with

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Duško Vujošević Duško Vujošević ( sr-Cyrl, Душко Вујошевић; born 3 March 1959) is a Montenegrin and Serbian professional basketball coach. Early life Duško Vujošević was born in Titograd (modern-day Podgorica), PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavi ...

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 Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

in the semifinal in Ghent. Jugoplastika, with

Dino Rađa Dino Rađa (Anglicized: Dino Radja, ; born April 24, 1967) is a Croatian former professional basketball player. He was a member of the Jugoplastika team of the late 1980s and early 1990s, which he helped to win two FIBA European Champions Cup ...

and

Toni Kukoč Toni Kukoč, nicknamed ''“The Waiter”'' (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian-American former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful perio ...

, 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 Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

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 Zoran Radović (born February 17, 1961 in Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian basketball player and current FIBA administrator. Early career and college Known for tenacious defensive skills, Radović started playing baske ...

for a

slam dunk A slam dunk, also simply known as dunk, is a type of basketball shot that is performed when a player jumps in the air, controls the ball above the horizontal plane of the rim, and scores by shoving the ball directly through the basket with one ...

. In just four professional seasons in Europe, he became the most sought-after big man on the continent, after

Arvydas Sabonis Arvydas Romas Sabonis (; born December 19, 1964) is a Lithuanian former professional basketball player and businessman. Recognized as one of the best European players of all time, he won the Euroscar six times and the Mr. Europa Award twice. He ...

Los Angeles Lakers (1989–1996)

Drafted into the NBA in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

by the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, Divac became one of the first European players to have an impact in the league. Under the mentorship of

and

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

, 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 The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

. 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 Collier "P. J." Brown Jr. (born October 14, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The , center/power forward was selected out of Louisiana Tech University by the New ...

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. 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 ngit" with respect to flopping. Ian Thomsen, a ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' columnist, grouped Divac with fellow international players

Anderson Varejão Anderson França Varejão (; born September 28, 1982) is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), 13 of those with the Cleveland Cavaliers. With a career that spanned ...

and

Manu Ginóbili Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...

as the players who "made loppingfamous", exaggerating contact on the court in a manner analogous to

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

games.

Charlotte Hornets (1996–1998)

On July 1, 1996, Divac was traded to the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

for the draft rights to

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

. After initially considering retirement upon being traded to the Hornets, Divac developed a close relationship with head coach

Dave Cowens David William Cowens ( ; born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and NBA head coach. At , he played the center position and occasionally played power forward. Cowens spent most of his playing career with the Bo ...

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 New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. Alongside

Glen Rice Glen Anthony Rice Sr. (born May 28, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a small forward, Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star and made 1,559 three-point field goal ...

, Anthony Mason, and

Muggsy Bogues Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is a former American basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season caree ...

, 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 New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. The next year, during the 1998 NBA playoffs, the Hornets beat their division rival

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Sou ...

in the first round, before losing to the defending champion

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

in the conference semifinals.

Crvena zvezda (1999)

During the

1998–99 NBA lockout The 1998–99 NBA lockout was the third lockout of four in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It lasted from July 1, 1998, to January 20, 1999, and forced the 1998–99 regular season to be shortened to 50 games per team a ...

, in January 1999, Divac played 2 games for Partizan's eternal rival

KK Crvena zvezda Košarkaški klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Кошаркашки клуб Црвена звезда, ), commonly referred to as KK Crvena zvezda mts for sponsorship reasons or simply Crvena zvezda, is a men's professional basketball Sports club, ...

, in the 1998–99 EuroLeague season. His debut for the ''crveno-beli'' took place mid-season, on

Orthodox Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

, versus a heavily favoured Žalgiris side led by

Tyus Edney Tyus Dwayne Edney Sr. (born February 14, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the San Diego Toreros men's team of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Listed at , he played point guard. He played coll ...

Mindaugas Žukauskas Mindaugas Žukauskas (born 24 August 1975 in Šiauliai, Lithuanian SSR, USSR) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, a former captain of the Lithuanian national basketball team. He is a small forward 2.01 m tall. Žukauskas is c ...

Saulius Štombergas Saulius Štombergas (born December 14, 1973) is a retired Lithuanian professional basketball player, basketball coach and businessman. Štombergas is one of the greatest Lithuanian basketball players of all time, and he was also considered to be ...

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

Sacramento Kings (1999–2004)

On January 22, 1999, Divac signed a six-year, $62.5 million contract as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

, where he played for six seasons alongside fellow countryman

Peja Stojaković Predrag Stojaković ( sr-cyr, Предраг Стојаковић, ; born June 9, 1977), known by his nickname Peja (''Peđa'', Пеђа, ), is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player who was most recently the assistant gen ...

. Teamed with Stojaković,

Hedo Türkoğlu Hidayet "Hedo" Türkoğlu (; born March 19, 1979) is a Turkish basketball executive and former professional player. A forward, Türkoğlu played for six teams in his 15-season career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the NBA ...

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Drafted number one overall by the Orlando Magic, though arguably best known and remembered as the star forward for the Sacramento King ...

and

Mike Bibby Michael Bibby (born May 13, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally for 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He last served as the head coach for Hillcrest Prep Academy in Phoenix, ...

, Divac revitalized the

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. The Kings, however, could not get past the

, who beat them controversially in a 7-game series in 2002, which has later been dubbed by some as the 'greatest tragedy in sports history'.

Return to the Lakers (2004–2005)

After the

2003–04 NBA season The 2003–04 NBA season was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Events This was the last season for the original two-div ...

, Divac became a

. On July 20, 2004, he signed a two-year contract to return to the Lakers, part of

Mitch Kupchak Mitchell Kupchak (born May 24, 1954) is an American professional basketball executive and retired player. He is the current president of basketball operations and general manager of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NB ...

'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

Gary Payton Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with t ...

Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Mailman", he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spen ...

Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. Fisher played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 18 seasons, spending the majority of his career with the Los ...

, 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. 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. Over his 16 years in the NBA, Divac earned over $93 million in salary. In September 2009, he played for the "NBA Generations" team in the 2009 NBA Asia Challenge, a series of exhibitions against

Korean Basketball League The Korean Basketball League (KBL; ) is a professional men's basketball league in South Korea which was established in 1997. The league consists of ten teams and each team plays a total of 54 games (27 home and 27 away) in the regular season. H ...

and

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

players.

National team career

Vlade Divac & Drazen Petrovic in Argentina 1990

In summer 1986, at 18, right after signing for KK Partizan, Divac debuted for the senior

Yugoslavia national basketball team The Yugoslavia men's national basketball team ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Košarkaška reprezentacija Jugoslavije, Кошаркашка репрезентација Југославије; sl, Jugoslovanska košarkarska reprezentanca; mk, ...

at the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held at the ...

in Madrid, on invitation by the head coach

Krešimir Ćosić Krešimir "Krešo" Ćosić (; 26 November 1948 – 25 May 1995) was a Croatian-Yugoslavian professional basketball player and coach. He was a collegiate All-American at Brigham Young University. He revolutionized basketball in Yugoslavia and w ...

. However, the excellent rookie's performance was spoiled by the event in the semi-finals against the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Forty-five seconds before the end, Yugoslavia had a comfortable lead of 9 points, but the Soviets scored two three-pointers within a few seconds and cut the difference to 3 points. Yugoslavia tried to hold the ball for the remaining time, opting to continue the play with throw-ins instead of free throws following fouls, but with only 14 seconds left, Divac committed a

double dribble In basketball, an illegal dribble (colloquially called a double dribble or dribbling violation) occurs when a player ends their dribble by catching or causing the ball to come to rest in one or both hands and then dribbles it again with one hand ...

, the Soviets were awarded the ball, and tied the score with another three-pointer. In the overtime, the Soviets won by 1 point and Yugoslavs had to be content with the bronze. The next year, Divac participated in the team that took the gold at the 1987 FIBA Junior World Championship (which was later split into separate under-19 and under-21 events) in

Bormio Bormio ( lmo, Bormi, rm, italic=yes, , german: Worms im Veltlintal) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina ...

, Italy. That event launched the young generation of Yugoslavian basketball players, also featuring stars like Rađa and Kukoč, regarded as likely the best in history. Before the

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

, they would also take the titles at

EuroBasket 1989 The 1989 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1989, was the 26th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Yugoslavia between 20 and 25 June 1989. Eight national teams entered th ...

and the

1990 FIBA World Championship The 1990 FIBA World Championship was the 11th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Argentina from 8 to 19 August 1990. The final phase of the competition was held at the Luna Pa ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, where they were led by

Dražen Petrović Dražen Petrović (; 22 October 1964 – 7 June 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s, before joining the Natio ...

, as well as the

EuroBasket 1991 The 1991 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1991, was the 27th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It was held in Italy between 24 and 29 June 1991. Eight national teams entered the even ...

title, with

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

. When Yugoslavia won the gold in the

, fans rushed onto the court. One of them was holding a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n flag, one of the six republics that made up Yugoslavia. Divac claims that he told the man that he should not be waving that flag, since this was a win for Yugoslavia. Divac claims the man made a derogatory remark about the Yugoslav flag, at which point Divac took his flag from him. This happened during a very tense time where nationalistic pride was threatening to tear Yugoslavia apart and ignite a war. The taking of the flag made Divac a hero to Serbs, and a villain to Croatians. Divac has stated that he did not mean it as an act against Croatia and he would have taken away a Serbian flag if a Serb fan had done the same. This action, along with the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

, alienated Divac from many of his former Croatian friends, particularly

, whom he considered his best friend. When

FR Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup A relationship breakup, breakup, or ...

won the gold medal at the

EuroBasket 1995 The 1995 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1995, was the 29th FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship held by FIBA Europe, which also served as Europe qualifier for the 1996 Summer Olympics, giving a berth to ea ...

, and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

won bronze, Croatia, still at war with Serbs from Croatia, walked off the podium during the medal ceremony. The teams had not faced each other in the tournament. In 2002, Divac was part of the team that won the FIBA World Cup in Indianapolis, beating Argentina in the final and the USA earlier on.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

LA Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

, 82 , , 5 , , 19.6 , , .499 , , .000 , , .708 , , 6.2 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , 8.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 81 , , 28.2 , , .565 , , .357 , , .703 , , 8.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 18 , , 27.2 , , .495 , , .263 , , .768 , , 6.9 , , 1.7 , , 1.5 , , 1.0 , , 11.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 69 , , 30.8 , , .485 , , .280 , , .689 , , 8.9 , , 2.8 , , 1.6 , , 1.7 , , 12.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 73 , , 34.0 , , .506 , , .191 , , .686 , , 10.8 , , 3.9 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , 80 , , 35.1 , , .507 , , .185 , , .777 , , 10.4, , 4.1 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , 16.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 79 , , 31.3 , , .513 , , .167 , , .641 , , 8.6 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , 12.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

, 81 , , 80 , , 35.1 , , .494 , , .234 , , .683 , , 9.0 , , 3.7 , , 1.3 , , 2.2 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 64 , , 41 , , 28.2 , , .498 , , .214 , , .691 , , 8.1 , , 2.7 , , 1.3 , , 1.5 , , 10.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 50 , , 50 , , 35.2 , , .470 , , .256 , , .702 , , 10.0 , , 4.3 , , .9 , , 1.0 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 82 , , 81 , , 29.0 , , .503 , , .269 , , .691 , , 8.0 , , 3.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.3 , , 12.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 81 , , 81 , , 29.9 , , .482 , , .286 , , .691 , , 8.3 , , 2.9 , , 1.1 , , 1.1 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 80 , , 80 , , 30.3 , , .472 , , .231 , , .615 , , 8.4 , , 3.7 , , 1.0 , , 1.2 , , 11.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 80 , , 80 , , 29.8 , , .466 , , .240 , , .713 , , 7.2 , , 3.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.3 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 81 , , 81 , , 28.6 , , .470 , , .154 , , .654 , , 5.7 , , 5.3 , , .7 , , .1 , , 9.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 15 , , 0 , , 8.7 , , .419 , , .000 , , .667 , , 2.1 , , 1.3 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.3 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 1134 , , 979 , , 29.8 , , .495 , , .235 , , .692 , , 8.2 , , 3.1 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 11.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 1 , , 0 , , 9.0 , , .667 , , .000 , , – , , 6.0 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , 8.0

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 1 , , 19.4 , , .727 , , .500 , , .895 , , 5.3 , , 1.1 , , 0.9 , , 1.7 , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 19 , , 19 , , 32.1 , , .564 , , .167 , , .803 , , 6.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.4 , , 2.2 , , 13.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 35.8 , , .349 , , .000 , , .900 , , 5.5 , , 3.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.8 , , 9.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 5 , , 33.4 , , .500 , , .444 , , .545 , , 9.4 , , 5.6 , , 1.2 , , 2.4 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 10 , , 10 , , 38.8 , , .467 , , .222 , , .645 , , 8.5 , , 3.1 , , 0.8 , , 1.3 , , 15.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 4 , , 28.8 , , .429 , , .200 , , .625 , , 7.5 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.3 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 3 , , 38.7 , , .457 , , .000 , , .800 , , 8.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.0 , , 2.0 , , 18.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 9 , , 38.5 , , .483 , , .000 , , .606 , , 10.9 , , 3.4 , , 0.8 , , 1.6 , , 11.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 5 , , 5 , , 39.6 , , .446 , , .200 , , .833 , , 10.0 , , 4.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 16.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 5 , , 5 , , 32.0 , , .357 , , .000 , , .696 , , 7.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.4 , , 0.8 , , 11.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 8 , , 8 , , 28.1 , , .350 , , .333 , , .763 , , 8.4 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.5 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 16 , , 16 , , 33.4 , , .464 , , .268 , , .755 , , 9.3 , , 1.7 , , 1.1 , , 1.3 , , 13.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 12 , , 12 , , 26.4 , , .560 , , .000 , , .673 , , 5.8 , , 2.3 , , 0.7 , , 0.9 , , 11.4 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 12 , , 12 , , 19.6 , , .437 , , .000 , , .739 , , 4.9 , , 1.8 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 6.6 , -class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 121 , , 113 , , 30.8 , , .480 , , .241 , , .731 , , 7.5 , , 2.4 , , 1.0 , , 1.4 , , 12.1

Major career achievements

KK Partizan

Yugoslav League The Yugoslav First Federal Football League ( Serbian: Прва савезна лига у фудбалу / ''Prva savezna liga u fudbalu'', hr, Prva savezna liga u nogometu, sl, Prva zvezna nogometna liga, mk, Прва сојузна лига, ...

Champion: (

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) * 1988 EuroLeague Final Four: 3rd Place *

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

Winner: (1989) *

Korać Cup Korać is a surname. Notable persons with that name include: * Dušan Korać (disambiguation), multiple people * Milorad Korać (born 1969), Serbian football player and manager * Radivoj Korać (1938–1969), Serbian basketball player * Vitomir Kor ...

Winner: (

)

Yugoslavia national team

* Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-18 nationals at the

1985 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1985 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1985 European Championship for Cadets) was the 8th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The city of Ruse, in Bulgaria, hosted the tournament. Yugoslavia won the trophy ...

Rousse Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

* Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-21 nationals at the

1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship The 1986 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship was an international basketball competition held in Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the ...

Gmunden Gmunden () is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden (district), Gmunden. It has 13,204 inhabitants (estimates 2016 ). It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of lake, brine, vegetable and pine-c ...

, Austria * Earned gold medal with Yugoslavia's under-21 nationals at the 1987 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in

, Italy, defeating the U.S. team twice in that tournament * Earned silver medals in

1988 Summer Olympic Games The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

(for

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

) and

1996 Summer Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

(for

) * Earned gold medals with

SFRY The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

at the

(

) and with FRY at the

2002 FIBA World Championship The 2002 FIBA World Championship was the 14th edition of the competition now known as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the international world championship for men's basketball teams. The tournament held by the International Basketball Federation in ...

(U.S.) * Earned gold medals at

EuroBasket EuroBasket, also commonly referred to as the European Basketball Championship, is the main international basketball competition that is contested quadrennially, by the senior men's national teams that are governed by FIBA Europe, which is the E ...

in Zagreb 1989, and Rome 1991 (with

), and in Athens 1995 (with FRY)

NBA

* 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 Dirk Werner Nowitzki (, ; born June 19, 1978) is a German former professional basketball player who is a special advisor for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Listed at , he is widely regarded as one of the gr ...

Tony Parker William Anthony Parker Jr. (born 17 May 1982) is a French-American former professional basketball player and majority owner of ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A. Himself the son of a basketball pro, Parker started his career at Paris Basket Racing in ...

Boris Diaw Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod (born April 16, 1982), better known as Boris Diaw, is a French basketball executive and former player who is the president of Metropolitans 92 of LNB Pro A. Diaw began his playing career in Pro A and returned to that l ...

) * One of only four basketball players born and trained in Europe (

and

Zydrunas Ilgauskas Zydrunas Ilgauskas ( lt, link=no, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas; ; born June 5, 1975) is a Lithuanian-born American former professional basketball player who played the center position. The 7'3" Ilgauskas played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Nationa ...

are the others) to have his number retired by an NBA team

Administrative career

Through the twilight of his playing career and afterwards, Divac focused on three fields: humanitarian work, sport management, and investment.

KK Partizan president

In late 2000, following the

overthrow of Slobodan Milošević The overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, began after the presidential election on 24 September and culminated in the downfall of Slobodan Milošević's government on 5 October 2000. It is sometimes referred to as the 5 Oct ...

whose policies Divac had been openly critical of throughout mid-to-late 1990s, Divac and former teammate

Predrag Danilović Predrag "Saša" Danilović ( sr-cyr, Предраг "Саша" Даниловић, ; born February 26, 1970), usually referred to in English as Sasha Danilović, is a Serbian professional basketball executive and former player, considered one of ...

took over their former club

. They did so on initiative by

Ivica Dačić Ivica Dačić ( sr-cyr, Ивица Дачић, ; born 1 January 1966) is a Serbian politician serving as first deputy prime minister of Serbia and minister of foreign affairs since 2022, roles which he previously served under governments of Mirk ...

, 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. Freshly retired from playing, Danilović was actually running the club's day-to-day operations since Divac was still very actively involved with the

at the time. The head coach they inherited, Darko Russo, finished out the 2000–01 season before they decided in summer 2001 to bring back their mentor

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 The National Assembly ( sr-cyr, Народна скупштина, Narodna skupština, ) is the unicameral legislature of Serbia. The assembly is composed of 250 deputies who are proportionally elected to four-year terms by secret ballot. The as ...

. 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.

LA Lakers scout

In October 2005, right after ending his playing career with the

, Divac got hired as the Lakers' European scout, reporting directly to the team's general manager

. He left the position in 2006.

Real Madrid Baloncesto club management

In June 2006, through his friendship with

Predrag Mijatović Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић, ; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At club level, Mijatović played for six clubs: Budućnost, Partizan, Val ...

, Divac linked up with

Ramón Calderón José Ramón Calderón Ramos (born 26 May 1951) is a Spanish lawyer who is the former President of Real Madrid. He got his Law Degree in the University of Navarra, Spain in 1974 and he worked in London, England, as a lawyer, in 1975 and 1976. A ...

as part of the lawyer's candidate bid for the presidency of

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. When Calderón closely won the club elections on July 2, 2006, Divac was announced as the head of operations at

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. 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 Globus is Latin for ''sphere'' or ''globe''. It may also refer to: Business * Globus Medical, a medical device company in Audubon, PA * Globus (clothing retailer), an Indian clothing retail store * Globus (company), a Swiss department store chai ...

'': "I literally do nothing and I only serve as part of the ''royal clubs image. I only accepted the job because of Mijatović, who is currently the football director at Real". 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

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

300,000.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister's adviser

In October 2008, Divac's political advisory engagement within the

Serbian government The Government of Serbia ( sr, Влада Србије, Vlada Srbije), formally the Government of the Republic of Serbia ( sr, Влада Републике Србије, Vlada Republike Srbije), commonly abbreviated to Serbian Government ( sr, � ...

as the sports,

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

, and humanitarian advisor to the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and Internal Affairs Minister

, got announced.

Olympic Committee of Serbia president

Divac was proposed 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 Milošević regime. In February 2009, Divac ran for presidency of the

Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. Members of the committee are 47 sports federations, wh ...

against incumbent president

Ivan Ćurković Ivan Ćurković (, ; born 15 March 1944) is a Serbian sports executive and former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his playing career that spanned 21 seasons from 1960 to 1981, Ćurković made over 700 official appearances for three ...

. He won the race after Ćurković withdrew just before the scheduled voting. In November 2012, he was re-elected as the sole candidate; the end of his second mandate coincides with the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro. In December 2014,

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

was accepted as a full member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Divac and the Serbian Olympic Committee have been criticised, chiefly by the

Democratic Party of Serbia The New Democratic Party of Serbia ( sr, Нова демократска странка Србије, Nova demokratska stranka Srbije, , NDSS or New DSS) is a national-conservative political party in Serbia. Initially known and formed as Democ ...

, for failing to take any effort to prevent that. 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". On May 9, 2017, he was succeeded by Serbian former basketball coach

Božidar Maljković Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-cyr, Божидар Божа Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. He is one of the most successful bask ...

on position of the president of

Sacramento Kings front office

Initial advisory role

In early March 2015, Divac was hired by the

as their vice president of basketball and franchise operations. Brought into the organization by the principal owner

Vivek Ranadivé Vivek Yeshwant Ranadivé (; born 7 October 1957) is an Indian-American business executive, engineer, author, speaker and philanthropist.D'Agostino, RyanThe Man Who Knows Everything ''Esquire''. 19 January 2012. Ranadivé is the founder and form ...

towards the end of a turbulent

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, Divac's arrival came in the wake of head coach Mike Malone's firing and the eventual hiring of

George Karl George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, Karl became an assistant with the team before getting the chance to become a ...

. Working alongside the team's general manager

Pete D'Alessandro Pete D’Alessandro (born June 17, 1968) is an American businessman, currently the assistant general manager of the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association. Prior to joining the Magic, D’Alessandro was the general manager for the Sa ...

, 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. 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 Michael Louis Bratz (born October 17, 1955) is a retired American basketball player and former the assistant general manager for the Sacramento Kings. He played professionally in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio Spur ...

, special assistant to the GM

Mitch Richmond Mitchell James Richmond III (born June 30, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player. He played collegiately at Moberly Area Community College and Kansas State University. He was a six-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA Tea ...

, director of player personnel and analytics Dean Oliver, adviser to the chairman

Chris Mullin Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a memb ...

, as well as a head coach, Karl, who has always wanted to be involved in personnel issues. Within a month of Divac's hiring,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'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". 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. Only days before the draft, animosity between head coach Karl and the team's star center

DeMarcus Cousins DeMarcus Amir Cousins (born August 13, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Boogie", he played college basketball for the Kentucky Wil ...

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 needs to be traded. As a result, against the backdrop of Cousins calling Karl a "snake" on Twitter, Divac reportedly discussed multiple Cousins trade scenarios with various teams, but ultimately no deal got made. At the 2015 NBA draft, with the 6th pick, the Kings selected 21-year-old center

Willie Cauley-Stein Willie Trill Cauley-Stein (born Willie Durmond Cauley Jr.; August 18, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA G League. He played college basketball with the Kentucky Wildcats. He previously ...

out of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. 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 John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College C ...

to replace Karl was reported. In early July 2015, in an effort of clearing

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

space in order to immediately go after

s, the Kings agreed to a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, sending

Nik Stauskas Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball f ...

Carl Landry Carl Christopher Landry (born September 19, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. The , all-conference power forward played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2004 to 2007. He is the older brother of Marcus L ...

, 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 Luka Mitrović ( sr-cyrl, Лука Митровић; born 21 March 1993) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he mainly plays at the power forward position. Mitrovi ...

in return. Two days later, they announced the acquisitions of two free agents: 29-year-old

Marco Belinelli Marco Stefano Belinelli (; born 25 March 1986) is an Italian professional basketball player and the team captain for Virtus Bologna of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and the EuroLeague. He was selected 18th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the G ...

on a three-year US$19 million contract and 29-year-old point guard

Rajon Rondo Rajon Pierre Rondo (, born February 22, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A point guard, Rondo played two years of college basketball for ...

for one year for US$10 million. This was followed by signing twenty-six-year-old center

Kosta Koufos Konstantine Demetrios "Kosta" Koufos ( Greek: ; born February 24, 1989) is a Greek-American professional basketball player who plays for the London Lions of the British Basketball League (BBL). He played one season at Ohio State before being sel ...

for four years and US$33 million with his role envisioned as the backup for Cousins. 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 CBS Sports Radio is a sports radio network that debuted with hourly sports news updates on September 4, 2012, and with 24/7 programming on January 2, 2013. CBS Sports Radio is owned by Paramount Global and distributed by Westwood One. Programmin ...

's ''

The Jim Rome Show ''The Jim Rome Show'' is a sports radio talk show hosted by Jim Rome. It airs live for three hours each weekday from 9 a.m. to noon Pacific Time. The show is produced in Los Angeles, syndicated by CBS Sports Radio, and can be heard on affilia ...

'' that the relationship between the two "isn't pretty right now". A few days later, on July 13, 2015, during a

2015 NBA Summer League The 2015 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA: the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week-long Orlando Pro Summer League a ...

game in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, the two shared an awkward on-camera handshake as Karl approached and Cousins reluctantly shook the coach's hand before turning away. Later that week, Divac summoned Cousins and Karl to a private counseling session.

General manager

Divac was promoted to the Kings' vice president of basketball operations and

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

on August 31, 2015. Amid a tense and incident-filled

that saw the team briefly reach the final

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

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. 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. It was later reported that the move to fire Karl on this occasion got scuttled by the Kings minority owners over financial concerns. A month and a half later, in late March 2016, Divac signed a multi-year contract extension with the organization. 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. Within three weeks, during which Divac interviewed head coaching candidates Sam Mitchell,

Vinny Del Negro Vincent Joseph Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. ...

Mike Woodson Michael Dean Woodson (born March 24, 1958) is an American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team. With coach Bob Knight's Indiana Hoosiers, Woodson played collegiate ...

David Blatt David Michael Blatt ( he, דוד מיכאל בלאט; born May 22, 1959), is an Israeli-American professional basketball executive. He is also a former coach and player. Blatt played point guard at Princeton University from 1977 to 1981 and p ...

, Mark Jackson,

Jeff Hornacek Jeffrey John Hornacek (; born May 3, 1963) is an American professional basketball coach and a former player who is a coaching consultant for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously was the head coach for both the ...

Nate McMillan Nathaniel McMillan (born August 3, 1964) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as head coach of the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He coached the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005, the Po ...

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Georgetown University men's team. He played most of his career as the starting center for the New ...

Elston Turner Elston Howard Turner Sr. (born June 10, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who currently works as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing career A 6'5" (1.96 ...

, and

Corliss Williamson Corliss Mondari Williamson (born December 4, 1973) is an American basketball coach and former basketball player who played for four teams during his 12-year NBA career. He last served as an assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns. His nickname is ...

, the Kings hired

Dave Joerger David Joerger ( AY-ger (born February 21, 1974) is an American professional basketball coach who serves as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Dakota Wizards ...

as their new head coach, signing him to a four-year deal worth

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

16 million. At the 2016 NBA draft, with the 8th pick, the Kings selected

Marquese Chriss Marquese De'Shawn Chriss (born July 2, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies and was sel ...

out of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, but traded him to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

for rights to Bogdan Bogdanović as well as the Suns' 2016 draft 13th and 28th picks,

Georgios Papagiannis Georgios Papagiannis (Greek: Γιώργος Παπαγιάννης; born July 3, 1997) is a Greek professional basketball player and the team captain for Panathinaikos of the Greek Basket League and the EuroLeague. Born in Marousi, Athens, Greece ...

and

Skal Labissière Skal Labissière (; born March 18, 1996) is a Haitian professional basketball player for the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League. He graduated from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee, before playing one season of col ...

, respectively. At the

2017 NBA draft The 2017 NBA draft was held on June 22, 2017, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. ...

, with the 5th pick, the Kings selected point guard

De'Aaron Fox De'Aaron Martez Fox (born December 20, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball, Kentucky W ...

out of

. At the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

, the Kings selected

Marvin Bagley III Marvin Bagley III (born March 16, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Duke Blue Devils and was a 2018 Consensus All-Amer ...

with the second overall pick, passing on

Luka Dončić Luka Dončić ( ; ; born February 28, 1999) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Slovenian national team. Born in Ljubljana, Dončić shone ...

who would become a MVP candidate within two years into his NBA career. In 2018–19 season the Sacramento Kings finished 9th in the Western conference. However, the season was evaluated as successful for the Kings. The

2019–20 NBA season The 2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 22, 2019, and originally was supposed to end on April 15, 2020. However, the season was suspended on March 11 as a resul ...

was suspended in March as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and the Sacramento Kings were invited to the 22-team

2020 NBA Bubble The 2020 NBA Bubble, also referred to as the Disney Bubble or the Orlando Bubble, was the bio-secure bubble at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, that was created by the National Basketball Association (NBA) to protect its play ...

. However, the Kings did not manage to qualify for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, 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.

Investments

Divac has been involved in many non-basketball endeavors while still actively playing in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, and more so after he retired. He is an active restaurant investor in the

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

area. However, his attempts to make major investments in Serbia failed, for a variety of reasons. The most notable affair was a highly publicized business venture—takeover bid of profitable beverage producer

Knjaz Miloš Knjaz Miloš ( sr-Cyrl, Књаз Милош, ) is a Serbian carbonated mineral water producer and distributor based in Aranđelovac, Serbia. In addition to its centerpiece Knjaz Miloš carbonated mineral water, the company also produces natural m ...

. Divac's company "Apurna", in a joint venture with French dairy giant

Danone Danone S.A. () is a French multinational corporation, multinational food-products corporation based in Paris. It was founded in Barcelona, Spain. It is listed on Euronext Paris where it is a component of the CAC 40 stock market index. Some of t ...

, ostensibly proposed the best bid, but the takeover was aborted by the Serbia's Securities Commission, because Danone/Apurna allegedly offered extra money to small shareholders. In the repeated bid, Divac and Danone eventually withdrew and the sale went to FPP Balkan Ltd., a privatization fund from the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

. The entire messy affair caused great friction within the

, wide speculation about corruption, resignation of the Securities Commission chief, and even a police investigation. Another similar, though less spectacular, episode happened with 2005 Divac's attempt to take over the '' Večernje novosti'', a Serbian high-circulation daily. He made an agreement with small shareholders to take over the company by means of registering a new company with joint capital, which would increase the share capital. However, the Serbian Government intervened and halted what should have been a mere technical move. While the attempted takeover was a "backdoor" one indeed, it was legal and similar cases had already occurred. The government ostensibly feared lack of control over the influential daily. Even though the

Supreme Court of Serbia The Supreme Court ( sr, Врховни суд, Vrhovni sud), earlier known as the Supreme Court of Cassation ( sr, Врховни касациони суд, Vrhovni kasacioni sud), is the court of last resort in the Republic of Serbia. It is the ...

eventually ruled in Divac's favor, he withdrew from the contest, citing "friendly advice" by unnamed persons. Embittered, he decided to stop his attempts to invest in Serbia: "All of this is ugly and I'm very upset... I realized that there's no place for me in Serbia and my friends can meet me in Madrid from now on... In Serbia, some different rules are in effect, and I can't conceive them". However, that turned out not to be true, as in October 2007 Divac got legally registered as the 100% owner of

Voda Voda Voda (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Вода, Polish language, Polish: Woda, Belarusian language, Belarusian: Вада ''Vada'') is ''water'' in several Slavic languages. It may refer to: * Voda (song), "Voda" (song), a song by Ana Soklič representi ...

, a

bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., well water, distilled water, mineral water, or spring water) packaged in plastic or glass water bottles. Bottled water may be carbonated or not. Sizes range from small single serving bottles to large car ...

brand previously owned by businessman Vojin Đorđević. That transaction was also followed by a stir of controversy, as Đorđević publicly accused Divac of deceit, asserting that he broke a

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...

they had, and questioning the validity of the contract that Divac presented to the Serbian Business Registers Agency. The circumstances surrounding the deal (as of November 2007) are still unclear: Divac claims that he indeed loaned some money to Đorđević's Si&Si company, which was in financial trouble, and after Đorđević failed to fulfill his part of the deal, just used the contract, already properly signed by Đorđević, to claim ownership of the company.

Humanitarian work

Divac is a humanitarian worker, focusing on aid to children worldwide and refugees in his home country. Along with six Serbian basketball teammates, Divac established the charity called

Group Seven A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

, later renamed to "Divac's Children Foundation", and works closely with

International Orthodox Christian Charities International Orthodox Christian Charities, Inc. (or IOCC), based in Baltimore, Maryland, is the official international humanitarian agency of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America. Since its inception in 1992, ...

(IOCC), helping them to raise around US$500,000 for humanitarian assistance in Serbia since 1997. Divac's own foundation, presided by his wife Snežana, provided over $2,500,000 in humanitarian assistance through 1998–2007. In 2000, the NBA named Divac as the recipient of the

J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award was an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given from 1975 to 2020 to a player, coach, or staff member who showed "outstanding service and dedication to the community." The award was named in ...

. The honor is presented annually to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community. In late 2007, Divac founded a humanitarian organization, "You Can Too" ( Serbian: ''Можеш и ти/Možeš i ti''), with the goal of restoring abandoned homes in villages throughout Serbia and Africa, thereby providing shelter for homeless refugees. Around 7,800 of those people still live in collective centers under poor conditions, so the organization has employed itself to buy abandoned countryside houses, in an attempt to finally solve their accommodation problem. From September 21 to 23, 2007, Divac organized an official farewell from his active basketball career in his hometown Prijepolje and Belgrade, simultaneously promoting the "You Can Too" campaign. The spectacle culminated in a gathering of Divac and his worldwide friends in front of 10,000 people outside the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

building.

In popular culture

In the early 1990s, the song "Vlade Divac" by Belgrade band

Deca Loših Muzičara Deca Loših Muzičara ( sr-cyr, Деца Лоших Музичара; transl. ''Bad Musicians' Children''), often abbreviated to DLM, are a funk rock band formed in Belgrade in 1988. They were one of the most prominent bands of the 1990s Serbian r ...

, devoted to his move to the Lakers, was a big hit; the band finally got to personally meet Divac and perform the song with him on his farewell party in 2007. During his time with the Lakers, Divac's popularity and marketing potential, in addition to his entertaining and good-natured personality, were picked up on by the American TV industry. As a result, he appeared quite a few times on Los Angeles-based late night programmes such as ''

The Arsenio Hall Show ''The Arsenio Hall Show'' is an American syndicated late-night talk show created by and starring comedian Arsenio Hall. There have been two different incarnations of ''The Arsenio Hall Show''. The original series premiered on January 3, 1989, ...

'' and ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''. In 1990, he was featured in a commercial with Laker teammates

A. C. Green A.C. Green Jr. (born October 4, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Iron Man", he holds a National Basketball Association (NBA) record for most consecutive regular-season games played with 1,192. Green played ...

and

Mychal Thompson Mychal George Thompson (born January 30, 1955) is a Bahamian-American former basketball player. The top overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft, Thompson played the center position for the University of Minnesota and center and forward for the Nati ...

for the Schick brand razor company. He also appeared in American

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

s '' Married... with Children'' and ''

Coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

'', as well as in the short lived ''

Good Sports ''Good Sports'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on the CBS network from January 10 to July 13, 1991, starring Farrah Fawcett and Ryan O'Neal. It was Fawcett's only scripted TV series after ''Charlie's Angels''. Synopsis The ...

'' sitcom. On the big screen Divac took part in basketball-based movies ''

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

'', ''

Space Jam ''Space Jam'' is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film directed by Joe Pytka, with animation sequences directed by Bruce W. Smith and Tony Cervone, and written by Leo Benvenuti, Steve Rudnick, Timothy Harris, and Herschel We ...

'' and ''

Juwanna Mann ''Juwanna Mann'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Jesse Vaughan, written by Bradley Allenstein, produced by Bill Gerber, and starring Miguel A. Núñez Jr., Vivica A. Fox, Kevin Pollak, Tommy Davidson, Kim Wayans, Gi ...

''. Later in his career, he appeared on ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles s ...

'' in 1999 and '' The Late Late Show'' in 2002. In Serbia, throughout his playing career, Divac regularly appeared in commercials pitching products ranging from Atlas Beer to

Société Générale Société Générale S.A. (), colloquially known in English as SocGen (), is a French-based multinational financial services company founded in 1864, registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense. Société Générale ...

mortgage credit plans. He appeared in a national TV commercial in the United States alongside former NBA star

Darryl Dawkins Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also ...

for

Taco Bell Taco Bell is an American-based chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired foods, includi ...

. Divac appeared as a special guest on

Eurovision 2008 The Eurovision Song Contest 2008 was the 53rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Belgrade, Serbia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Molitva" by Marija Šerifović. Organised by the European Broadcastin ...

. He threw a ball into the audience, which marked the beginning of

televoting Televoting, telephone voting or phone voting is a method of decision making and opinion polling conducted by telephone. Televoting can also extend to voting by SMS text message via a mobile cell phone. Broadcast contest televoting Televoting ...

. Divac features in the

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes three "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series un ...

'' documentary '' Once Brothers'', where he discusses the exploits of the

in the late 1980s and early 1990s and how the Yugoslav Wars tore them apart, especially in context of his broken friendship with Croatian player

. Divac appears in

Boris Malagurski Boris Malagurski ( sr-Cyrl, Борис Малагурски; born 11 August 1988) is a Serbian-Canadian film director, producer, writer, political commentator, television host, and activist.

's documentary film ''

The Weight of Chains ''The Weight of Chains'' is a 2010 Canadian documentary film directed by Boris Malagurski.NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

. In March 2020, Belgian footballer

Divock Origi Divock Okoth Origi (born 18 April 1995) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club AC Milan and the Belgium national team. Origi began his career at Lille, and scored on his professional debut for them in 2013. A ...

revealed that he was named after Divac.

Personal life

Divac and his wife, Snežana, have two sons, Luka and Matija, and an adopted daughter, Petra, whose biological parents were killed by

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the ...

snipers. On January 7, 2014, Divac's father Milenko died after injuries sustained in a car accident. Divac is fluent in 3 languages,

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian () – also called Serbo-Croat (), Serbo-Croat-Bosnian (SCB), Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS), and Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS) – is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Filmography

Film

Selected television

Notes

References

External links

*
Euroleague.net 50 greatest contributors
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Divac, Vlade 1968 births Living people Basketball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Charlotte Hornets players FIBA EuroBasket-winning players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees FIBA World Championship-winning players KK Crvena zvezda players KK Partizan players KK Sloga players Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Los Angeles Lakers players Los Angeles Lakers scouts Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association general managers National Basketball Association players from Serbia National Basketball Association players with retired numbers National Basketball Association scouts from Europe Olympic basketball players of Yugoslavia Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Yugoslavia Olympic silver medalists for Serbia and Montenegro People from Prijepolje Recipients of the Olympic Order Recipients of the Order of St. Sava Sacramento Kings players Sacramento Kings executives Serbian basketball scouts Serbian businesspeople Serbian basketball executives and administrators Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Serbian men's basketball players Universiade gold medalists for Yugoslavia Universiade medalists in basketball Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States Yugoslav men's basketball players 1990 FIBA World Championship players 2002 FIBA World Championship players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade

Professional career

Sloga (1983–1986)

Partizan (1986–1989)

Los Angeles Lakers (1989–1996)

Charlotte Hornets (1996–1998)

Crvena zvezda (1999)

Sacramento Kings (1999–2004)

Return to the Lakers (2004–2005)

National team career

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Major career achievements

KK Partizan

Yugoslavia national team

NBA

Administrative career

KK Partizan president

LA Lakers scout

Real Madrid Baloncesto club management

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister's adviser

Olympic Committee of Serbia president

Sacramento Kings front office

Initial advisory role

General manager

Investments

Humanitarian work

In popular culture

Personal life

Filmography

Film

Selected television

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links