Exclusive interview: Vlade Divac opens up about Luka, Bagley and this ‘disappointing’ season
For the first time since he became general manager of the Kings, I was worried about Vlade Divac.
The Kings hit rock bottom last week, blown out by an ordinary Detroit Pistons team in a manner that was nothing short of pathetic. A young team already losing a lot amid injuries and lapses of desire were suddenly lying down as if it didn’t care.
Divac saw the same game you did.
“What happened in Detroit was unacceptable,” he said in an interview this week.
He agreed to talk to me about what his reaction was to all this, to the feeling that a cloud hovered over the Kings as the team continued to fall short of expectations. I found him to have an open and positive approach to what has been a troubled season.
“This season has been disappointing, frustrating for a lot of reasons,” Divac said. “We expected better results.”
So, that’s why I was worried about him. We all expected better results. From Kings fans to Divac’s bosses, everyone expected wins. We expected a team that cares, and it just didn’t seem like it did.
If the team doesn’t care, why should we? And if we start not caring, shouldn’t Divac be held responsible?
And in that case, in the cutthroat business of the NBA, isn’t it true that being “held responsible” could morph into being fired if the Detroit debacle became the new normal for the Kings from now until the end of the NBA regular season in mid-April?
And if Divac had to go, then wouldn’t Luke Walton, his hand-picked coach, have to go as well? And while we’re at it, wouldn’t the heads on the chopping block include primary owner, Vivek Ranadive?
This is the brain trust of the Kings, along with Kings COO Matina Kolokotronis. All of these people are interconnected with Ranadive, who took over the Kings in the summer of 2013.
If you’ve never met the Kings primary owner, I’m here to tell you: That’s a big brain. That’s a man raised in wealth and privilege in his native India – a man who has never lost at anything until, well, until now.
But with the 127-106 Detroit loss as a symbol – and, my friends, we all know the game wasn’t that close – Ranadive seemed destined to be the admiral of a seventh straight Kings losing season.
Last week, this foundation seemed to be creaking.
Kings connections
Kolokotronis became Ranadive’s right hand soon enough after he took over the Kings and after she had served a critical role under the Maloofs, the previous Kings owners.
Divac arrived in 2015 after Ranadive had fired popular coach Mike Malone and hired unpopular coach George Karl. Divac and Koloktronis had been dear friends since Divac was the glue that held the wonderful Kings teams of the early 2000s together.
Back then, Koloktronis – a lawyer – was helping the Kings negotiate the contract of early 2000s sharpshooter Peja Stojakovic. Who did Divac hire to work closely with him in the Kings front office? Who is like a member of Kolokotronis’ family? Stojakovic.
Do you see now why I was worried about Divac? No one wants to build a house of cards that could collapse in a heap of career setbacks for dear friends.
So I asked to talk. Divac said yes to an on-the-record conversation in which he would communicate to fans what has gone wrong and what needs to happen to salvage something from this lost season.
This request to talk to Divac was made and accepted before the Kings bounced back from Detroit with a spirited 98-81 win in Chicago over the Bulls. And the interview took place Monday afternoon, at Divac’s Golden 1 Center office, hours before the Kings staged one of the most miraculous comebacks in recent NBA history, defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-129 on the road in overtime.
“I still believe that we have the team to fight for the eighth spot or the ninth spot (in the Western Conference standings),” Divac said.
By Wednesday, Divac’s words sounded preposterous as the Kings reverted to Detroit-game form: Unfocused, static, uninspired. They looked horrible in losing at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 120-100. They never led in the game. Their season record dropped to a dismal 17-30. The Kings are now 8-14 on their home floor. With the exception of point guard De’Aaron Fox, every other player in a Kings uniform was suspect on Wednesday night.
Divac said what troubled him most about the Detroit game was that the Kings “couldn’t compete.” It was unacceptable, right? Well, there it was again on Wednesday – the Kings couldn’t compete.
It was a horrible display, the kind that makes you wonder about the mental and emotional makeup of the team Divac has assembled.
NBA draft decisions
On Monday, I asked Divac about specters that have been hanging over this wounded Kings season like a pair of vultures. The Kings fan base has been upset about the team’s struggles and with the constant absences due to injury by highly touted big man Marvin Bagley III. And, over in Dallas, guard Luka Doncic has become a star. He is one of the leading scorers in the league, averaging nearly 29 points a game.
Doncic was there for the drafting and the Kings could have taken him, but opted for Bagley instead. Between a broken thumb and sore left foot, Bagley has only played in 13 games this season, most often sitting in street clothes while the Kings lost game after game.
Some in the Kings organization are very touchy about the idea that the Kings might have passed on a generational talent in Doncic to pick Bagley, but not Divac.
“I’m not concerned with the fans booing,” he said. “That’s them showing us that they are not happy with what they see and I’m OK with that ... I believe in what we did. I believe in (point guard) Fox and Bagley. I think those two guys are going to take us where we want to go.”
The calculation by Divac is that he chose Bagley over Doncic because Bagley will be a better on-court partner with Fox, who the Kings view as their current and future on-court leader.
“Marvin and Fox complement each other,” he said. “I agree its been difficult for the fans and for Marvin (to miss 33 games so far).”
Kings fans have been restive because they are enduring what could be the Kings 14th consecutive losing season, the longest current streak of losing and futility in the NBA. This season was supposed to be different.
In April of 2017, after trading turbulent big man DeMarcus Cousins, and taking heat from fans, Divac said:
“I believe we are going to be in a better position in two years. I want to hear again from these same people in two years. If I’m right, great. If I’m wrong, I’ll step down. But if I go down, I’m going down my way.”
It’s been nearly three years since Divac said that and the Kings are 12 games under .500. His 2017 pledge of doing better or else has been shared widely by Kings fans on social media.
Does Divac think the Kings are in a better position now?
“Yes,” he said. “In my mind, we’re definitely in a better place than we were three years ago.”
Why? He said Fox and Bagley, two cornerstone assets, are in their early 20s and on rookie-scale contracts through 2021 and 2022, respectively. The Kings have four players on expiring contracts and one open roster spot.
They will have five picks in the next draft, including one first-round pick. The Kings have one of the lowest payrolls in the NBA and the flexibility to keep adding pieces. They’ve lost eight games this season by three points or less, the most in the league. They’ve only had their full roster for two full games this season.
“I want to see my team healthy and then judge the players and the coaches,” he said.
Tough questions, soft play
Divac didn’t shy away from any question.
Has the team played soft at times during the season?
“Yes,” he said. “Sometimes we played too soft. We’ve missed Richaun Holmes, (the surprising center) who became a fan favorite through his tenacity until he, too, went down with an injury to his shoulder.”
Is Divac feeling pressure from Ranadive?
“We’re not happy where we are, but he’s letting me do what I think we have to do.”
Is Bagley’s injury more serious than the team is letting on?
“It’s a minor injury,” Divac said “He’s young and he’s learning how to play with the pain he has. It’s hard to jump and run when it bothers you and that’s his game....When I was 30 and finishing up my career, I could play on one leg.”
The team hopes to have Bagley back in a matter of games, Divac said. The same goes for Holmes, who was expected to be out two to three weeks and the three-week mark is early next week.
Is Divac confident in Walton?
“Yes,” he said. “He’s had a short-handed team and he’s trying very hard to put them together. I’m very pleased.”
At the beginning of the season, pollsters such as the FiveThirtyEight blog had the Kings winning 35 games. ESPN projected 39. My recollection is that the Kings fan base scoffed and expected more this season. Now, with 17 wins and 35 games to go, winning between 35 and 39 games seems far fetched, and would be a big turnaround from a dismal first half of the season.
That’s what Divac is looking for. It’s what he says he is demanding, even if the players are not responding.
Both Divac and Walton are in the first year of four-year deals, which complicates any talk of a radical overhaul.
The Kings have already been too unstable and dysfunctional, hiring and firing the next person to right the team.
On paper, the Kings have a good foundation, even if the rewards are still deferred.
This is the army the Kings are going to battle with and there is no turning back. Divac believes he has a team to win, even if this season of high expectations has become a miserable slog with the low point redefined over and over.
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:30 AM.
