Vlade Divac

Who is Vlade Divac?

Vlade Divac is a retired Yugoslav and Serbian professional basketball player and current sports administrator.

Divac spent most of his career in the NBA. At 7 ft 1 in, he played center and was known for his passing skills. Divac 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. Divac is one of six players in NBA history to record 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 blocked shots, along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett and Hakeem Olajuwon. 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, Divac was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his play in international competition.

Aside from being noticed for his basketball abilities, Divac is also known as a humanitarian, helping children in his native country of Serbia, and in Africa. On October 16, 2008, Divac was appointed a government adviser in Serbia for humanitarian issues. On February 24, 2009, he was elected President of the Serbian Olympic Committee for a 4-year term. Divac received a prestigious honor from the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame.