#1 NBA Good Guy - Vlade Divac
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By Paul Attner
The Sporting News
| Andrew Berstein/NBA Photos | |
| Good Guy - Vlade Divac |
For Vlade Divac, the worst part of the war in Yugoslavia came in the spring of 1999, when NATO launched bombing raids at night in areas where members of his family staying. It was in the midst of the NBA season, but Divac found himself staying up far into the night, monitoring computer and television reports. His relatives survived, and he became more determined to improve living conditions in the battle-ruptured region.
As a result, Divac and Group 7, the foundation he formed with six other Yugoslavian NBA players, stepped up efforts to bring relief supplies to their country. This summer alone, working with two other aid groups -- Save Serbian Children and International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) -- the foundation has delivered substantial containers of merchandise. One shipment included $50,000 worth of food, which will feed 5,000 to 6,000 families for a month. Another shipment provided 60 pallets of toys, 2,000 sweatshirts and an assortment of medical supplies intended for orphanages, hospitals and other non-government organizations.
Divac is the driving force behind Group 7. He and his wife, Ana, were so appalled by conditions in Yugoslavian orphanages that in addition to helping more than 40 of them with supplies, equipment and medicine, they adopted a 6-month-old orphan, Petra, who is now 3 years old. She lost her parents in the fighting around Kosovo.
"I have the resources, and I have found and created the opportunities to help," says Divac, a 7-1 Kings center and a 12-year NBA veteran. "This is how I feel, what my life is all about. I would hope someone else in my situation would do the same."
Divac's weakness is children. He has three (two boys in addition to Petra) and is deeply troubled by how the war in his home country has affected so many of the young ones. In the mid-'90s, he began organizing friends who could make weekly trips to refugee camps and orphanages, just to visit and let the kids know someone cared. Now, besides the food and medical shipments, he is involved in a pilot program to encourage improved dental hygiene among Yugoslavian youngsters through the use of trading cards featuring players in Group 7. He also wants to establish initiatives to buy presents for the orphans on holidays, and to pay for them to go to school.
"His heart is with the kids," says Dean Triantafilou, CEO of IOCC. "More than 300,000 refugees still haven't gone home yet. With him, it isn't just the money or supplies. He is a hero, and he gives all of them hope that things can get better."
This summer, the NBA, expanding on an idea from Divac, will conduct a basketball camp in Italy with Divac and other pro players that will be host to youngsters from the various -- and frequently warring -- Yugoslavian regions.
"My country is a basketball country, and when I was a kid, if I had a chance to talk to one NBA player, I would have listened to anything he told me," Divac says. "It used to be such a beautiful country, and it has been destroyed. But if we can send a message about a better future through one kid, we will succeed."
Paul Attner is a senior writer for The Sporting News. E-mail him at [email protected].