March 31, 2009 - 7 p.m. (local time), Sacramento (CA)....Arco Arena. Sacramento Kings – New Orleans Hornets....Na poluvremenu ove utakmice svečano će biti povučen dres sa brojem 21 Vlade Divca...
"He was absolutely an unselfish player -- more concerned about his teammates, more worried about how to get them going, how to make them productive," Kings Director of Player Personnel Jerry Reynolds said. "His game always came last. He was good enough to be productive in whatever role (necessary). Vlade was the best teammate I've ever seen in professional sports. He was the glue for the team. He wasn't the most talented player but certainly an outstanding player and an All-Star. He was the guy that was everybody's best friend, a leader, kind of a father-professor."
"He was humble," Bobby Jackson reflected. "He treated everybody with respect. He lit up the locker room and kept it all (light) with laughter and not being too serious. He knew when to turn it on and turn it off. He made everybody better."
"There were so many (memorable) moments, but a lot of them really happened away from the court," Doug Christie said with a broad smile. "I called Vlade 'the luckiest man in the world.' We’d be on the road and we’d shoot half court shots and since he was the oldest guy, he’d always get to shoot last. If two people made it, no one won. So you would make it and then you would wait and wait... and every time he would hit it and nobody would win! So everybody would get mad! When I think about Vlade, I just think about the great person that he is. And those (non-game interactions) are the times I will remember most because he was so special as an individual. From the time I was a rookie with the Lakers to the time I came to Sacramento, he never changed. He treated me so special and made me feel welcome and I just love him for that."
Od statističkih podataka izdvajam činjenicu da je Vlade jedan od tri igrača koji su u karijeri imali više od 13,000 poena, 9,000 skokova, 3,000 asistencija i 1,500 blokada. Tačne brojke izgledaju ovako:
U karijeri je odigrao 1134 mečeva, od čega 979 kao starter. Na terenu je proveo 33.838 minuta ( u proseku 29.8).
Iz igre je pogodio 5.205 puta od 10.510 pokušaja (49,5%), plus 100 trojki iz 426 pokušaja (23,5%). Bacanja je izvodio 4.176 puta, a bio je uspešan 2.888 puta (69,2%).
Skokova je imao 9.326, 2.881 ofanzivnih i 6.445 defanzivnih (8.2 – 2.5 – 5.7 po meču).
Asistencija 3.541 (3.1), ukradenih lopti 1.288 (1.1), blokada 1.631 (1.4), grešaka 2.470 (2.18), a ličnih grešaka 3.609 (3.2).
Davao je prosečno po 11.8 poena po meču, odnosno ukupno 13.398 poena.
Osim ovoga Vlade je u Sakramentu šesti igrač po broju poena - 5,176, drugi skakač (3,538), šesti asistent - 1,693, sedmi kradljivac (453) i treći bloker – 523.
Vlade je prvi put u NBA ligi zaigrao 1989. godine, u plej ofu se pojavio 14 puta, u finalu je igrao jedanput. Na all-star meču se pojavio isto jednom. Tom prilikom je za 9 minuta šutnuo 6 puta iz igre (4 puta pogodio) i jednom za tri poena (promašaj), 3 puta skočio (1 u napadu), ostvario 1 asistenciju, 2 ukradene lopte i jednu grešku. Zavšrio je taj meč sa 8 poena.
Za 16 sezona igrao je u tri ima, od 1989 do 1996 u LA Lekjersima, od 1996 do 1998 u Šarlotu i od 1998 do 2004 u Sakramentu. Karijeru je završio u dresu LA Lejkersa u sezoni 2004/2005.
Od danas više nijedan igrač Kinga neće moći da obuče dres sa brojem 21...