Vlade Divac

Vlade Divac is a retired Serbian professional basketball player, who spent most of his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He began playing basketball in his hometown Prijepolje for the team KK Elan. His first professional team was Sloga from Kraljevo. In 1986, he signed for KK Partizan Belgrade and he was the top star of transfer season. After playing with great success for 3 seasons in Partizan, Divac was drafted in 1989 by the Los Angeles Lakers. He became one of the first European players to have an impact in the league. Even though he spoke no English at all, he quickly became popular among his teammates and the public for his charm. In his first season, he was picked for the NBA All-Rookie team.

He played for Lakers for 7 seasons, and then he was traded to Charlotte Hornets for Kobe Bryant. In 1998, he signed a contract as a free agent with Sacramento Kings, and he became one of the best players in Kings history. Playing alongside Pedja Stojaković, he made Kings franchise great. Tho they never won championship, it was the best Kings team in history. He retired from professional basketball at the age of 37, in 2005. Kings retired his No. 21 jersey in a ceremony on March 31, 2009. He is one of the seven players in NBA history to record 13000 points, 9000 rebounds, 3000 assists and 1500 blocks. In 2010, he was inducted in FIBA Hall of Fame.

As for his National team stats, he played his first match at 1986 FIBA World Championship in Madrid, at the age of 18. He played on numerous Euro and World Championships, winnig 2 World gold medals, and 3 Euro gold medals.

At this day, he is the president of Serbian Olympic Committee, since 2009. In March 2015, he was hired as the vice president of basketball and franchise operations by the Sacramento Kings. He was promoted as vice president of basketball operations and general manager in August 2015.