In a farewell ceremony held this past weekend in Belgrade, Vlade Divac closed-out his basketball career as only Divac could, with a huge three-day party.

But it wasn’t only a farewell party, it was three days full of activity around the Serbian capital; an auction, a basketball tournament, a fundraiser, a carnival, a concert, an museum-inauguration, and finally, the ceremony.

It all started on Friday, September 21st at the palace of Serbia’s royal family, Prince Aleksandar and Princess Katarina Karadjordjevic. And by the end of the weekend, there was a new Vlade Divac museum open in his hometown of Prijepolje. Needless to say, it was a good weekend for Divac.

Stars from all over the world were present to wish Divac well including Serbian basketball legends Aleksandar Djordjevic, Dejan Bodiroga, Predrag Stojakovic, Predrag Danilovic, Zoran Savic, Zarko Paspalj as well as current NBA players Chris Webber, Scot Pollard, and Glen Rice. The guest-list also included former Yugoslavian teammates Toni Kukoc and Dino Radja from Croatia.

The ceremony also featured a short film for players/celebrities that couldn’t make the ceremony. Well-wishers included Magic Johnson, Bobby Jackson, Yao Ming, coach Phil Jackson, rapper Snoop Dog, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, actor Billy Crystal and others.

In international play, Divac was much-accomplished. He was a two-time Olympic Silver Medalist, three-time EuroBasket champion (1989, 1991, 1995), and a gold-medalist in the 1990 and 2002 FIBA World Championships.

In 1989, Divac traveled to the United States to join Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Showtime Lakers were coming to an end, but not before Divac made his mark. In game 3 of the 1991 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls, Divac made a layup with 10.9 seconds left in the game and drew a foul. It would give the Lakers a 92-90 lead.  Immediately after the basket, Divac showed such disbelief at what he had just done, found Magic Johnson and hugged him with such genuine emotion — and as important as the shot was at that moment, it was even more memorable because it was one of the first times Americans witnessed the European celebration and emotion en masse.

Divac, along with the late Drazen Petrovic, Arvydas Sabonis, Sarunas Marciulionis, Rik Smits, Manute Bol, Dino Radja, and Detlef Schrempf are considered the first crop of international NBA players that not only showed up in games, but contributed significantly.  Divac and his peers helped pave the way for future international superstars such as Dirk Nowitzki, Peja Stojakovic, Yao Ming, Tony Parker and Andrei Kirilenko.

Vlade Divac started and finished his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. Ironically the player Divac was traded away from LA for way back in 1996, was the player he would finish out his Laker career with (Kobe Bryant). Divac’s career averages of 11.8 pts, 8.2 rebs, 3.1 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.1 steals in 1,134 games played were worthy of mention because those numbers makes him one of only three players in NBA history to have amassed 13,000 points (13,364), 9,000 rebounds (9,294), 3,000 assists (3,522) and 1,500 blocks (1,630) – the other two players being Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon.

Thanks for the great memories, Vlade.

source: Fiba