From 1989 to 1996, Vlade Divac was a fairly productive center for the Los Angeles Lakers. They drafted him in the first round of the 1989 draft following the retirement of legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he became a serviceable player for them as they rebuilt during the 1990s.
He returned to the team for one more go-around in 2004. However, a back injury limited him to 15 games that season, and he called it quits shortly afterward.
On Thursday, Divac, who is 57 years of age, reportedly broke his hip in a motorcycle incident.
Via ESPN:
“Former NBA center Vlade Divac underwent emergency surgery after breaking a hip in a fall from his motorcycle in Montenegro, doctors said Friday.
“The accident happened Thursday on a road near the Montenegrin Adriatic Sea coast. Hospital officials said Divac sustained a fracture and that an artificial hip was implanted.”
Luckily, the 7-foot-1 Serbian is said to be doing OK.
“During the day, a surgical procedure was performed,” said Ljubica Mitrovic, a spokeswoman of the hospital in the town of Risan. “He is in a stable general and physical condition and is under a careful supervision of the medical staff.”
Divac was one of the first serviceable European players to enter the NBA. He was somewhat ahead of his time as far as his skills, as he could not only score out of the low post but also pass the ball effectively, hit perimeter jumpers and even handle the ball and run the fast break.
He was so versatile that, at the time, some felt his natural position was forward. But he continued to play at the 5 and finished with career averages of 11.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 blocks a game.
The Lakers traded him for the draft rights to a 17-year-old Philadelphia-area native named Kobe Bryant in 1996. Ironically, that trade almost came back to bite them, as Divac went on to become a pivotal member of those free-wheeling Sacramento Kings teams of the early 2000s that came within a fingernail of defeating L.A. in the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
Following his retirement, he accepted a job with the Lakers as a liaison to help them scout players in Europe. He was elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Former Laker Vlade Divac got injured after falling off motorcycle
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
