Kobe Bryant’s legendary career with the Lakers nearly never happened. The eventual five-time NBA champion was a product of a draft day trade which landed him in LA. However, the deal depended on the willingness of former Lakers big man Vlade Divac being willing to head to Charlotte after he initially refused to be a moving piece in a trade.
Advertisement
Los Angeles was utterly head over heels for Bryant. General manager Jerry West fell in love with the 18-year-old’s skill set and potential following just one 20-minute workout. Former Nike executive Sonny Vaccaro was the man responsible for arranging the session between Bryant and West.
At the time, Vaccaro had moved on from Nike and was spearheading Adidas’ basketball movement. He wanted a new young face of the company to elevate the brand to great heights. Bryant seemed like the perfect candidate and the Lakers would be the perfect destination.
Both West and Vaccaro seemed to have completed their plan during the 1996 NBA Draft. The Hornets selected Bryant with the 13th pick but the Lakers immediately traded for Kobe’s draft rights. Los Angeles sent Serbian center Vlade Divac in exchange for the potential star guard.
Divac wasn’t content with the deal when the team broke the news to him. Nearly 30 years after the iconic trade, Divac sat with Saša Čobanov of Index.hr, for a special interview. He opened up about nearly causing the trade to fall through.
“I said I won’t go,” Divac said. “Then they convinced me that I had to, that it was in my contract, that if I didn’t agree, I wouldn’t be able to play basketball anymore.”
Divac was the last of the older tenure Lakers at the time. He didn’t have any intentions of leaving the team. The Hall of Fame big man started in the 1991 roster which reached the Finals. He aspired to help lead the team to that stage once more.
After extensive conversations with the front office, Divac eventually eased his stance. The trade went through and the rest is history. Looking at how things panned out, Divac doesn’t hold any bitterness toward his former team.
Divac believes trading for Bryant was a ‘no-brainer’
As time has passed, Divac’s opinion regarding the trade has changed. At first, he wasn’t the biggest fan. He had hopes of potentially retiring in Los Angeles. However, he doesn’t blame Jerry West for pulling the trigger to acquire Bryant.
“I didn’t like it in the beginning, but later on, if I was in Jerry West’s shoes, I would do the same thing,” Divac admitted. “I would trade myself for Kobe, no-brainer.”
Divac didn’t let any animosity brew toward the Lakers for moving on from him. Instead, he went on to have a successful and fulfilling NBA career and a less than ideal career as a GM. Despite earning only a single All-Star appearance his contributions to the game earned him a spot in the Basketball Hall-of-Fame.
