In the 1996 NBA Draft, Kobe Bryant fell to No. 13 and the Charlotte Hornets, who took Bryant in order to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers for big man Vlade Divac. However, that trade almost never happened, as Divac detailed to Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears that he initially planned to retire instead of allowing the deal to be consummated.
Vlade Divac talks about how he almost stopped Kobe Bryant from playing for the Lakers
Divac almost retired instead of allowing the trade to the Hornets that brought Bryant to the Lakers.
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Divac was drafted 26th overall by the Lakers in 1989 and soon developed a love of playing for the franchise. But then-Lakers general manager Jerry West had grand plans for the 1996 offseason. West wanted to get Bryant and then sign Shaquille O’Neal on top of that. In order to pull that off, Divac had to go.
West pulled the trigger on the deal, sending Divac to the Hornets for Bryant’s rights on draft night and clearing the cap space to sign O’Neal. Only, the trade was done in principle and soon held up by Divac, who didn’t want to go to Charlotte:
"My feelings were that I play basketball for fun. This is not fun," Divac recently told Yahoo Sports about the 1996 draft-day deal that sent him to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for Bryant, who is expected to play his final game in Sacramento on Thursday. "If somebody asked before, 'Vlade, are you going to play basketball over there [in Charlotte]?' It's not going to happen. I talked to my wife and told her, 'Look, I'm going to retire.'
Divac was in Europe at the time of the trade and soon informed the Lakers he planned to retire, which would’ve nixed the deal and made him “the most hated guy in L.A.”
However, West managed to talk Divac off the ledge after an “emotional meeting.” The big man ultimately consented to a trade he called “the best deal in NBA history” because it gave the Lakers Bryant and allowed them to sign O’Neal to a seven-year, $120 million contract a week after the trade became official.
Divac left his family in California while he played two seasons in Charlotte before heading back to the West Coast and joining the Sacramento Kings, where he helped them nearly ruin the Lakers' three-peat, only to fall short in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
Divac returned to the Lakers for one final season in 2004-05 before actually going through with his retirement. He now is the chief basketball decision-maker for the Kings, who are set to host Bryant for his final time in Sacramento on Thursday. Divac will be part of a pregame ceremony that honors the Lakers legend who almost didn’t become a Lakers legend because of Divac 20 years ago.
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