Basketball royalty comes to town this weekend with the visit of former NBA superstar Vlade Divac to Auckland, primarily to raise funds and awareness for the charitable foundation set up in his and his wife’s name, with a dinner being held in his honour on the Saturday night.
While in Auckland however, the former LA Lakers superstar and FIBA Hall of Famer will pay a visit to the current iiNet champions, the SKYCITY Breakers. Divac will attend practice on Saturday morning and work with the SKYCITY Breakers big men at their Atlas Place gym.
Divac is here in New Zealand to speak at the dinner, a night that will also feature music and folk dance from the children of the Serbian Saint King Milutin community.
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
Foundation Ana and Vlade Divac was established in 2007, after almost 20 years of family’s devotion to charitable work in numeroushumanitarian projects and assistance to all those in need. Throughout their charitable initiatives, Ana and Vlade Divac have raised over 15 million US dollars for humanitarian aid and educational programs not only in Serbia, but also in many other affected countries and regions all over the world.
The objective of the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation is to provide financial and all other resources to meet physical, psychosocial and other needs of refugees, internally displaced and abandoned persons, regardless of their gender, religion, nationality, or any other affiliation or commitment.
Divac Foundation is deeply devoted to young people and promotion of positive role models among youth. The focus of youth related initiatives is promotion of sport activities among youth and refurbishment of state owned sports and kindergarten playgrounds across Serbia. The objective of all these activities and initiatives is to create better and healthier environment for children and youth is Serbia.
ABOUT VLADE
Drafted into the NBA in 1989 by the Los Angeles Lakers, Vlade Divac became the Lakers' first-ever Serbian draft pick. He was also one of the first European players to have an impact in the league. Under the mentorship of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, he improved his play and adapted to the American style of the game. Despite the fact that he didn't speak any English, he quickly became popular among the teammates and the public for his charm and joviality. In the 1989/90 season, he was selected into the NBA All-Rookie Team.
He was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for the draft rights to Kobe Bryant in 1996 and spent two seasons playing there. During the lockout period, in January 1999, he played two games for Partizan's "eternal rival" KK Crvena Zvezda in the 1998–99 Euroleague season. He then signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings where he would play for six seasons alongside fellow countryman Predrag Stojakovi?. Along with Stojakovi?, Chris Webber and Mike Bibby, Divac revitalised the Sacramento Kings franchise. The Sacramento Kings rose in the NBA ranks, becoming a perennial playoff contender and later on a championship contender and was at one point the best team in the NBA, leading the league in number of wins in 2001–02. The Sacramento Kings however, could not get past the Los Angeles Lakers, who beat them in a seven-game series in 2002.
After the 2003–04 NBA season, he became a free agent. He signed a deal to return to the Lakers and was part of a grand plan to overhaul Laker basketball. The Lakers, following a defeat in the NBA Finals, had traded away or released most of their players, including Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, Derek Fisher and more; Divac was supposed to fill that void. However, Divac suffered back problems and was unable to play for most of the season, and even when he returned, was only able to play about nine minutes per game, averaging 2.3 points per game and 2.1 rebounds per game in 15 games, he played eight games early in the season and seven more in the final month of the season. On July 14, 2005, Divac announced his retirement, ending his 16-year NBA basketball career.
Professional basketball career:
1983–1986 KK Sloga (Yugoslavia)
1986–1989 KK Partizan (Yugoslavia)
1989–1996 Los Angeles Lakers
1996–1998 Charlotte Hornets
1999 Red Star Belgrade (Yugoslavia)
1999–2004 Sacramento Kings
2004–2005 Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards:
1989 - European Player of the Year
1990 - NBA All-Rookie First Team
1991 - FIBA's 50 Greatest Players
2000 - J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
2001 - NBA All-Star
50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors
2009 #21 Retired by the Sacramento Kings
FIBA Hall of Fame induction
NBA Career and statistics:
Points: 13,398 (11.8 ppg)
Rebounds: 9,326 (8.2 rpg)
Blocks: 1,631 (1.4 bpg)
Other interesting facts:
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 Sacramento 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
Ranked 12th in the NBA in field-goal percentage (.503) in 1999–2000
Only basketball player born and trained in Europe to play at least 1,000 NBA games (1,134)
Over his 16 years in the NBA, Divac made over $93,000,000 in salary.
One of only two basketball players born and trained in Europe (Dražen Petrovi? is the other) to have his number retired by an NBA team.
Divac is the current President of Serbian Olympic Committee.
Divac received a prestigious honour from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.
