Vlade Divac has worked to give back to basketball. Now he’s earned sport’s top honor
The Basketball Hall of Fame is the home for the sport’s royalty. How fitting that this year’s class includes the man running the Kings.
Vlade Divac was named to the Class of 2019 on Saturday by the hall’s International Committee. He’s the 15th player in franchise history and the second in the Sacramento era to be inducted.
“I’m overwhelmed by this honor,” the Kings’ general manager said in a statement. “As a young man, I never would have believed the opportunities afforded to me by this great sport. Basketball has looked after me for most of my life, and I’ve always done what I can to give back to this special community. It’s been an unforgettable journey and I want to thank my family for their support. I also want to express my appreciation to my teammates, coaches, staff, colleagues and fans who have played a significant role in helping me achieve this incredible recognition.”
Divac, in his fourth season leading the Kings, played six seasons for the team (1998-2004). He made his only NBA All-Star appearance in 2001 and averaged 11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 blocks. His jersey No. 21 was retired by the franchise in 2009.
“For six years, we were the most exciting team in the league and really played basketball the right way,” Divac told The Associated Press in Minneapolis, where the Hall of Fame announcements were made before the NCAA men’s Final Four tipped off.
Overall, he played in 1,134 games and averaged 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 blocks in 16 NBA seasons which included stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Charlotte Hornets.
Prior to joining the Kings front office, Divac spent more than a decade serving the NBA and international sporting communities with the same distinction that solidified his reputation as a consummate teammate, player, humanitarian and overall difference-maker on and off the basketball court.
“Vlade has been a transformational leader on and off the court for his entire career,” Kings owner and chairman Vivek Ranadive said in a statement. “As an international basketball pioneer and global ambassador for the game, he has used his platform to make the world a better place for over three decades. From his efforts to start Basketball Without Borders to his lasting impact on how the game is played, he continues to serve as an inspiration and role model for players of all ages around the world. Congratulations to Vlade, Ana and his family on this prestigious distinction.”
Prior to his NBA days, Divac began playing pro ball in 1986 with Belgrade-based club KK Partizan and later helped his country’s national team take home EuroBasket gold medals in 1989, 1991 and 1995. In the FIBA World Championship, he helped lead his teams to gold in 1990 and 2002. He earned silver medals in the 1988 Olympics with Yugoslavia and in 1996 with Serbia. In 1991, Divac was named among FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players and in 2008 was named among the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2010, he was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame.
Divac came to the NBA in 1989, when he was drafted 26th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers and went on to earn All-Rookie First Team honors. He was traded to Charlotte in 1996 and spent two seasons there before signing with the Kings in 1998 as a free agent. He played one final season with the Lakers before retiring from the NBA.
The 7-foot-1 center is the first foreign-born player to play more than 1,000 NBA games. He is one of just seven players in league history to record more than 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocks, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon, along with Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol.
Divac has been a global ambassador of the game. In 2001, Divac helped to start the first Basketball Without Borders camp in Europe when he reunited with former teammates from the Yugoslavian national team to work with children from multiple countries in Treviso, Italy. More than 15 years after his first camp, he returned to Serbia last summer to participate in the 17th BWB and first in his home country. Since its inception, BWB has reached more than 3,200 participants from 127 countries and territories, with more than 55 former campers drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents.
Divac served as the President of the Serbian Olympic Committee from 2009-17 and was named to the Olympic Order for his services to the Olympic movement in 2016. In 2000, Divac became the first foreign-born winner of the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, recognizing his service and dedication to the community. He and his wife founded the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation in 2007 to help refugees address housing needs, raising more than $20 million and securing assistance for over 700,000 people. The Foundation is a continuation of their 30 years of humanitarian work, which began in the U.S. with Humanitarian Organization Divac.
Also being inducted in the 12-member class as players are Carl Braun, Chuck Cooper, Bobby Jones, Sidney Moncrief, Jack Sikma, Teresa Weatherspoon and Paul Westphal, who coached the Kings for a little more than two seasons; former NBA coach Bill Fitch; Al Attles as a contributor; and the Tennessee A&I men’s teams from 1957-59 and the Wayland Baptist University women’s team.
Divac joins Mitch Richmond as Sacramento-era players in the hall. The shooting guard played half of his 14 NBA seasons with the Kings and was a six-time All-Star.
Another former King, Chris Webber, was a finalist for this year’s class, but did not get the call.
“For the last five or six days when I found out I was going to be there, I was only hoping that he was going to be next me,” Divac told AP. “I’m sure it’s going to happen down the road, but it would be awesome if he was right next to me.”
Induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is set for Sept. 6 in Springfield, Mass.
This story was originally published April 6, 2019 at 2:51 PM.