Former NBA great Vlade Divac breaks a hip in motorcycle accident in Montenegro

FILE -Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac looks on from the bench as his team warms up before facing the Denver Nuggets in an NBA basketball game , Oct. 21, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Former NBA center Vlade Divac underwent emergency surgery after breaking a hip in a fall from his motorcycle in Montenegro, doctors said Friday.
The accident happened Thursday on a road near the Montenegrin Adriatic Sea coast. Hospital officials said the 57-year-old Divac sustained a fracture and that an artificial hip was implanted.
Advertisement
'During the day, a surgical procedure was performed,' said Ljubica Mitrovic, a spokeswoman of the hospital in the town of Risan. 'He is in a stable general and physical condition and is under a careful supervision of the medical staff.'
The 7-foot-1 (2.16m) Serbian center started and ended his 16-year NBA career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He also played for the Charlotte Hornets and Sacramento Kings. He was an All-Star in 2001. He later served as general manager of the Kings.
When he joined the Lakers in 1989, he was among the first group of European players to transfer to the NBA.
Divac was also the first player born and trained outside the United States to play in over 1,000 games in the NBA. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Divac served two terms as head of Serbia's Olympic Committee.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Associated Press

8 minutes ago

• Associated Press

Inside the numbers: Pacers, Thunder set to play Game 7 for NBA title on Sunday night

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — For the 20th time, there will be a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. Indiana will play at Oklahoma City on Sunday night in the final game of the season, with the winner getting the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7 of the finals, but a road team — Cleveland, over Golden State — won the most recent of those games in 2016. A look inside some numbers surrounding this matchup: Odds are, nobody's scoring 40 There have been only two 40-point scoring performances in Game 7 of the NBA Finals — and both came in losing efforts. Jerry West scored 42 points in Game 7 of the 1969 series, but the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in Bill Russell's final game. And Elgin Baylor scored 41 points in Game 7 in 1962 — another Lakers-Celtics matchup — but Boston prevailed in that one as well. Bob Pettit had the third-highest scoring total in a Game 7. He had 39 for the St. Louis Hawks against the Celtics in 1957 ... and Boston won that game as well. The highest-scoring Game 7s in a winning effort? Those would be by Boston's Tom Heinsohn in that 1957 game against St. Louis and Miami's LeBron James in the 2013 series against San Antonio. Both had 37; Heinsohn's was a double-overtime game, James got his in regulation. And no team might break 100, either Yes, these are high-scoring teams. Oklahoma City was No. 4 in points per game in the regular season (120.5 per game) and Indiana was No. 7 (117.4). The Thunder are second in that category in the playoffs (115.2), just ahead of No. 3 Indiana (115.1). In Game 7, that might not matter much. No team has reached 100 points in Game 7 of the NBA Finals since 1988. Or even topped 95 points, for that matter. The last five Game 7s: — 2016, Cleveland 93, Golden State 89 — 2013, Miami 95, San Antonio 88 — 2010, Los Angeles Lakers 83, Boston 79 — 2005, San Antonio 81, Detroit 74 — 1994, Houston 90, New York 84 The last finals Game 7 to see someone hit the century mark was when the Lakers beat the Pistons 108-105 in 1988. Expect a close one The average margin of victory in Game 7 of an NBA Finals: 6.9 points. Each of the last eight such games have been decided by single digits. Only four have been double-digit wins: Boston over St. Louis by 19 in 1960, Minneapolis over New York by 17 in 1952, Boston over Milwaukee by 15 in 1974 and New York over the Los Angeles Lakers by 14 in 1970. The closest Game 7 in the finals was Syracuse beating Fort Wayne 92-91 in 1955. That was one of six finals Game 7s decided by three points or less. By seed The Thunder are the 22nd No. 1 seed to play in Game 7 of an NBA Finals. Their 21 predecessors on that list are 12-9 in the ultimate game; seven of those games have been ones where both teams entered the playoffs as No. 1 seeds. The Pacers are the fourth No. 4 seed to make Game 7 of the title round. Their three predecessors went 1-2 (Boston beat the Lakers in 1969, Seattle lost to Washington in 1978 and the Celtics lost to the Lakers in 2010). Game 7 experience It'll be the fourth Game 7 for Indiana forwards Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner. Siakam's teams have gone 2-1 in Game 7s, Turner's have gone 1-2. Indiana's Aaron Nesmith is 2-0 in the pair of Game 7s in which he has played, with Indiana winning at New York last year and Boston beating Milwaukee in 2022. Both of those wins were in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's reigning MVP, has averaged 27 points in two previous Game 7s. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points in his lone Game 7 to this point. No player on either side has previously been part of a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. New for some refs, too The NBA doesn't announce referee assignments until game day, so it won't be known until Sunday morning who the three-person crew is for Game 7. This much is certain: for at least two of the referees, it'll be the first time on the Game 7 finals stage. Scott Foster — who would seem a likely pick this year — worked Game 7 of the finals in 2013 alongside Dan Crawford and Monty McCutchen, and Game 7 of the title series in 2010 with Dan Crawford and Joe Crawford. The most recent Game 7 of the finals was in 2016 and the crew for that game was Dan Crawford, McCutchen and Mike Callahan. Outside of Foster, no referee in this year's pool has been on the floor for a Game 7 in the NBA Finals. ___ AP NBA:

NBC Sports

9 minutes ago

• NBC Sports

Is $10 billion sale price good or bad for Lakers? Yes. Mostly it highlights changing NBA.

The NBA without the Buss family owning the Lakers sounds… weird. Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers when Ronald Reagan was entering the White House and he proceeded to transform both the team and the league. There is the on-court success, where the Lakers have won 11 championships since Buss bought the franchise, while boasting a parade of 'face of the game' level players: Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and now LeBron James, with Luka Doncic. Laker fans should be estatic. A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike -… Beyond that, Dr. Buss changed how the sport was packaged as a product — this was entertainment. This was an event. It was the Laker girls and music pumped in the arena (not just an organist), it was Dancing Barry and celebrities sitting courtside. The modern fan sporting experience started with Buss' vision. Now, Lakers ownership is changing. Once approved this summer by the Board of Governors, it will be Mark Walter, the CEO of global investment firm Guggenheim Partners, who will have bought the franchise at a $10 billion valuation. Jeanie Buss reported will stay on as the team's governor (she and the Buss family will retain 18% ownership, according to reports). Sale about change Is the sale of the Lakers good or bad for the franchise? Is it good or bad for the NBA? Yes. The answers are nuanced. It's also not the right question, Is this the end of family ownership in the NBA? Yes This is the real takeaway from the sale. The days of an NBA team as a family-run operation — especially where the team is the primary source of income, as it was for the Buss children — are gone. Big-time professional sports are now an investment for the ultra-wealthy. Fans look at the Lakers' brand, the superstar players, how often they are on national television, the purple-and-gold jerseys in the crowd at road games, and with all that comes a perception that the Lakers were a free-spending, do-whatever-it-takes-to-win organization. They were not even close. Behind the scenes, this was a relative mom-and-pop operation because it had to be — and if it wasn't for a very generous local television contract it would have been much more noticeable (but betting on cable television to keep funding the team is a losing proposition long term). The Lakers did not spend top dollar on coaches (remember Ty Lue going across town?). They did not spend to beef up basketball operations and staff — Oklahoma City has a larger scouting and basketball operations team. That's what Walter's ownership changes and why Lakers fans should feel positive. Under Walter's ownership, the Dodgers have unashamedly acted like the richest kids on the block, and have been rewarded for it on the field. For a Lakers team going into summer negotiations with Doncic and LeBron, having a deep-pocketed owner willing to spend matters, even if the NBA's tax structure limits that spending. The Lakers are an amazing organization. I'm looking forward to meeting Mark and excited about the future. I am also grateful to Jeanie and the Buss family for welcoming me to LA, and I'm happy that Jeanie will continue to be involved. I look forward to working with both of them… What Walter did with the Dodgers was spend — not just on players, he also upgraded Dodger Stadium, he beefed up the team's front office (stealing the GM from another team), its analytics department, and he spent big on player development. He turned the Dodgers into Goliath and has a couple of World Series wins to show for it. Walter can't just spend to buy players under the NBA's punitive salary cap/luxury tax system, but his Lakers will start acting like a rich team off the court. Expect the Lakers' front office and scouting teams to grow. Expect a focus on player development. Expect facility upgrades (not at which is owned by AEG, but other team facilities). The Lakers didn't act like the richest kids on the block — that other team in Los Angeles did — and around the Lakers there are a lot of little stories that highlight things. As noted at ESPN: 'An assistant coach was not approved to stay at the same hotel as the player he was traveling to work out with in the offseason because the room was too expensive.' All that is about to change. Something lost With that, a connection between the fans and the owner is lost. Jeanie Buss will remain the team governor and in some ways face of ownership, but Walter and his investment team will have the final say. A much more corporate entity runs the Lakers now, whatever face they put on it. The same was true in Dallas, where part of the loss in Mark Cuban selling the Mavericks was not having him as the recognizable owner fans to relate to (and talk to). The same is true in Boston, where Wyc Grousbeck was always a rich, corporate owner, but one fan saw, who a year ago was carrying the Larry O'Brien Trophy around the streets of Boston during a parade, high-fiving fans. The trend toward corporatization and private equity/investment banking touching everything is not just a sports thing, it's a societal thing. It's the way of the world. It's just going to feel a little different for the NBA. At least Jeanie Buss will still be around and have a voice in the Lakers, but it's not going to be the same. Not that it will matter to Lakers fans if they start winning like the Dodgers.

Los Angeles Times

18 minutes ago

• Los Angeles Times

Former Laker Vlade Divac has emergency surgery after breaking hip in motorcycle accident

Basketball Hall of Famer and former Lakers fan favorite Vlade Divac broke his hip Thursday when he fell from his motorcycle while riding near the Adriatic Sea coast in Montenegro. On Friday, a spokesperson for a hospital in Risan said the 57-year-old Serbian basketball legend now has an artificial hip after emergency surgery. 'During the day, a surgical procedure was performed,' hospital spokesperson Ljubica Mitrovic said of Divac. 'He is in a stable general and physical condition and is under a careful supervision of the medical staff.' Divac, a 7-1 center, was drafted by the Lakers in 1989 after leading the Yugoslavia men's basketball team to an Olympic silver medal the previous year. He became a full-time starter during his second season as a Laker and soon emerged as a fan favorite, with frequent appearances in commercials, sitcoms and late-night talk shows. After seven seasons with the Lakers, Divac was traded to the Charlotte Hornets for the recently drafted Kobe Bryant on July 1, 1996. (The Lakers would sign another 7-1 center, Shaquille O'Neal, as a free agent later that month.) Divac played two seasons with the Hornets and signed with the Sacramento Kings as a free agent in 1999. He spent six years there — a stint that included his only All-Star season, in 2000-01 — before returning to the Lakers for the last of his 16 NBA seasons in 2004-05. After finishing his career with 13,398 points, 9,326 rebounds, 3,541 assists and 1,631 blocked shots, the Kings retired his No. 21 jerseyin 2009. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. Divac was the Kings' general manager from 2015-2020. The Associated Press contributed to this report.