Vlade Divac was known to be among the centers ever to don the Los Angeles Lakers jersey during his time. Had he been given the choice, it seemed that he would have opted to retire as a Laker until some complication rose 20 years ago.
At that time, Divac was at the center of trade rumors, which would send him to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for an up-and-coming player named Kobe Bryant. While most people never dug deep on what transpired at that time, Divac would have botched everything back in 1996 had he not been persuaded by then general manager Jerry West.
Divac apparently loved the Los Angeles life and didn't want to leave at that time. He and his family had settled in until word of that trade cropped up. At that point, Divac seemed distraught and was toying with the idea of retiring. Had he done so, the Lakers would not have landed Bryant.
That year was a rebuilding year for the Lakers. They were on the verge of acquiring Shaquille O' Neal. To make it all happen, they had to unload some salary to accommodate the big fella. And Divac was the unfortunate player to make it all happen.
Divac eventually played on and Kobe, of course, made his mark with the Lakers. While he did play with the Hornets initially, he would move on to sign with the Sacramento Kings. Together with Chris Webber, they formed a vaunted frontline that made waves in the Western Conference.
That included pushing the Lakers to the limit in the 2002 Western Conference finals. Divac returned to the Lakers in 2004-05 before fulfilling his dream – that of which was to retire as a Laker. And funny as it may sound, he ended up playing with the same player behind his transfer – Kobe Bryant.
"Whatever you see in games, Kobe demands more in practice. He was asking for everyone to do the same thing, but it was hard because he gave basketball everything," says Divac via Yahoo Sports.
