North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Former European great drops in on Heat
Former NBA All Star and one of the best European basketballers ever, Vlade Divac, was a popular onlooker at the Harbour Heat’s weekend training session.
It was the Heat’s Serbian connection which persuaded the 2.16m star, who is the president of the Serbian Olympic Committee, to pay a visit.
Divac is a FIBA Hall of Famer and played more than 1000 NBA games during a 16-year career which included stints with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.
He also won gold for Yugoslavia at the 1990 and 2002 World Championships.
Heat head coach Alex Stojkovic and assistant coach Nele Nikovic both have Serbian heritage.
For them Divac was a childhood hero who they believe paved the way for the current day European players in the NBA, like championship winning Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki.
So Stojkovic wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity to get his team and the autograph hunters to sing happy birthday to the visiting superstar, who celebrated his 44th birthday while on his first trip to New Zealand.
Divac, a centre who possessed ball skills which belied his size, says his best advice is: ‘‘Enjoy the game and try and improve everyday because at the end of the season it will make a huge difference.’’
He also has a cautionary message for NBA hopefuls.
‘‘I want players to believe they can do whatever they want. It is very hard to make a good decision about when to join the NBA, if you are only sitting on the bench it is not good.’’
Since retiring from basketball in 2005, Divac has spent more time on humanitarian work including helping refugee and, internally displaced and abandoned persons to live a better life through the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation.
Divac departed the training in Mairangi Bay with his own Heat singlet and a donation for his charity but he left behind plenty of inspiration for a new team who are less than one month away from starting their national title campaign.