Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac was part of the most famous trades in NBA history when the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to the Charlotte Hornets in 1996 for an 18-year-old named Kobe Bryant. That trade sparked the Lakers’ new dynasty in the 2000s with Kobe and Shaquille O’Neal.
Divac was not pleased about being traded at the time, but according to the New York Times’ Marc Stein, he now acknowledges the wisdom in then-Lakers GM Jerry West’s move, so much so that even he would’ve traded himself for Kobe.
Bryant started only seven games in his first two seasons on Harris’s veteran-laden, win-now squad. Even before that, shortly after draft night in 1996, Vlade Divac tried to short-circuit the agreed-upon trade that would send Bryant from the Charlotte Hornets to the Lakers by threatening to retire at age 28 rather than leave Los Angeles.
Divac ultimately came to terms with swapping Hollywood for Charlotte and consented to joining the Hornets. … Yet as he reflects on it now, as the general manager of the Sacramento Kings, Divac said: “I wasn’t happy leaving L.A., but if I was Jerry West, I would have traded me for Kobe, too.”
Things worked out well for Divac in the end as he eventually ended up with the Sacramento Kings, where he had some of the best years of his career. Unfortunately, he also had the misfortune of going up against Kobe Bryant’s Lakers, who denied him a trip to the Finals.
In hindsight, it's clear for everyone – even Divac himself – how that trade made so much sense for the Lakers. But Jerry West didn’t have the benefit of hindsight, which made his move to trade for an all-time great as an 18-year-old all the more impressive.
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