A Thank You To Vlade Divac From a Lakers Fan

Posted by Kyle Stack under Main

I used to love Vlade Divac when he was a Laker. I loved him even more when he was an ex-Laker. Now that he is responsible for one of the greatest trades ever, I will love him forever. After the 1991 NBA Finals in which Vlade played a role as the young, energetic crowd-favorite for a Lakers team that was at the end of its Showtime dynasty, there wasn’t one Laker fan who knew that Vlade would be the crux for a new Lakers dynasty.

In the summer of ‘96, Lakers general manager Jerry West acquired two chips that would bring three NBA championships to La-La land. West traded Divac to the then-Charlotte Hornets for the rights to Kobe Bryant, a skinny, high school shooting guard from an obscure Pennsylvania high school. The brilliance in acquiring Bryant was compounded by the fact that moving Divac’s salary ? which also created an opening at the center position ? cleared $3 million in cap space which allowed West to sign then-25-year-old Shaquille O’Neal. So, in essence, West trade Divac for Kobe AND Shaq. The Logo made a heist.

Move to the summer of 2004. After the aforementioned three championships and an MVP trophy for O’Neal, the Lakers traded Diesel for Brian Grant, Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. Grant was irrelevant, but Odom became a promising complement to Kobe.

After one season in L.A., Caron., along with Chucky Atkins, was traded in the summer of 2005 for Kwame Brown and Laron Profit. The Lakers were trying to find a potentially dominant big man as the Lakers continued into the Kobe Era and Kwame was identified as a potentially dominant big man.

Profit quickly flamed out and Kwame’s $9-million salary became a valuable trade asset, so he was dispatched ? along with two players and two draft picks ? this past spring for Pau Gasol. Even though the Lakers had already found a potentially dominant big man in Andrew Bynum on Draft Day 2005, Gasol has the rare combination of experience and youth. He is in his seventh season in the Association, but is only 27. After three seasons of living the post-Shaq life, Kobe finally has another great big man in the post with which to play.

In review, Vlade was traded for Kobe, but, just as importantly, Vlade’s trade cleared the necessary salary cap room ? and roster spot ? to sign Shaq O’Neal. Shaq’s trade netted Lamar Odom and Caron Butler. Caron turned into Kwame and Kwame was the centerpiece of the trade that landed Pau Gasol. Lakers fans can look at Kobe, Lamar and Pau and hearken back to the days when Vlade would run up the court and blow a kiss to the fans. Now it’s the fans’ turns to blow a kiss back to Vlade. Thanks big fella!

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