Former NBA great Vlade Divac breaks a hip in motorcycle accident in Montenegro
Former NBA center Vlade Divac underwent emergency surgery after breaking a hip in a motorcycle fall 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. 'During the day, a surgical procedure was performed,' said Ljubica Mitrovic, a spokeswoman for the hospital in the town of Risan. 'He is in stable general and physical condition and is under careful supervision of the medical staff.'
The 7-foot-1 (2.16 m) 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 US 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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Jalen Williams is set for wrist surgery after managing injury through Thunder's title run
Jalen Williams is planning to have surgery on his right wrist after the Oklahoma City forward tore a ligament before the Thunder started their run to a championship, general manager Sam Presti said Monday. Williams played in all 23 postseason games in helping the Thunder win their first NBA title since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle 17 years ago. He scored a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120–109 win over Indiana in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Oklahoma City beat the Pacers in seven games. The 24-year-old Williams is expected to be ready for next season, Presti said. Williams was inactive for the final two games of the regular season after playing 36 minutes in a 125–112 victory over Phoenix on April 9. Williams wore a brace on the wrist on his shooting hand at times during the playoffs and had it taped during games. He shot just 30 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs, more than 6 percent off his percentage during the regular season. 'The part that I'm most impressed with is in our modern era when someone has a poor performance or they're not playing to their capability in a game and there's a lot of attention on it, you often see a little birdie make sure that everybody knows that the player is not 100 percent,' Presti said during his season-ending meeting with reporters. 'Never happened with this guy, not one time. He powered through. He showed incredible mental endurance and security in himself.' A first-time All-Star in his third season after the Thunder drafted him 12th overall out of Santa Clara in 2022, Williams averaged career bests of 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
WNBA Expanding to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia Over Next Five Years
The WNBA is expanding to 18 teams over the next five years, with Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia all set to join the league by 2030. Cleveland will begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia the season after, assuming they get approval from the NBA and WNBA Board of Governors. Toronto and Portland will enter the league next year. 'The demand for women's basketball has never been higher, and we are thrilled to welcome Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia to the WNBA family,' WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said. 'This historic expansion is a powerful reflection of our league's extraordinary momentum, the depth of talent across the game, and the surging demand for investment in women's professional basketball.' For all the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. All three new teams announced Monday have NBA ownership groups. Each paid a $250 million expansion fee, which is about five times as much as Golden State paid for a team a few years ago. All three teams will also be investing more money through building practice facilities and other such amenities. 'It's such a natural fit that when you already have this basketball-related infrastructure, these strategies, cultures that you find to be successful, combinations of personnel that you find to be successful,' said Nic Barlage, CEO of Rock Entertainment Group and the Cavaliers. 'Extending that into the WNBA is just a natural next progression, especially if you have a desire to grow like we do.' Both Cleveland and Detroit had WNBA teams in the past, and Philadelphia was home to an ABL team. 'This is a huge win for Detroit and the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said. 'Today marks the long-hoped-for return of the WNBA to a city with deep basketball roots and a championship tradition. Detroit played a key role in the league's early growth, and we're proud to reignite that legacy as the WNBA ascends to new heights. Our plans will bring new energy, investment, and infrastructure to our city and the WNBA, and additional resources to our community.' Detroit sports stars Grant Hill, Chris Webber, and Jared Goff will have minority ownership stakes in the team. The Cleveland and Detroit ownership groups said the Rockers and Shock – the names of the previous teams – would be considered, but they'd do their due diligence before deciding on what the franchises will be called. 'Rockers will be a part of the mix for sure, but we are at this point we're not going to commit to a brand identity because we want to really get into it with our fans, do some research, be very thorough and thoughtful in that process,' Barlage said. The Detroit and Cleveland teams will play at the NBA arenas that currently exist, while Philadelphia is planning on a new building that will be completed, hopefully, by 2030. 'We tell the city it's going to open in 2031. We're hoping for 2030,' said Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner and co-founder Josh Harris, who owns the 76ers. 'So we're trying to underpromise and overdeliver. But right now it's 2031 so that we have a year gap, you know. We've got the Xfinity Center, the Wells Fargo; they'll play there.' Adding these three teams will give the league more natural rivalries, with another team on the East Coast and Detroit and Cleveland near each other. 'I think there's some great historical rivalries in the NBA among these cities, and I think that will carry over to the WNBA,' Detroit Pistons vice president Arn Tellem said. 'I would love nothing more to have a rivalry like we do in the NBA with Cleveland and Indiana, Philadelphia and New York, and all these great cities, and and I think we will.' Other cities that bid on teams that didn't get them include St. Louis, Kansas City, Mo., Austin, Texas, Nashville, Tenn., Houston, Miami, Denver, and Charlotte, N.C. 'We didn't know the demand would be where the demand ended up when we ran the process last fall into the winter,' Engelbert said. 'Given the very high demand and supply we wanted to evaluate too because we're very careful about, you know, making sure we're balancing the number of roster spots, the number of teams. But one thing I'm very struck by as we get into a new media deal as the media market evolves, you know, being in these three big basketball cities is going to help from a media perspective, a corporate partners' perspective.' All metrics, such as attendance, television ratings, and sponsorships, have been on the rise the last few seasons. 'You're seeing the key performance indicators around the business, but then also just the communal impact of having a women's professional sports team,' Barlage said. 'The largest growing segment of our Cavs youth academy, which serves 60,000 kids across the state of Ohio and upstate New York, the fastest-growing segment is girls. You know, it's growing at a 30 percent clip year over year in participation rates. And so for us to be able to create role models, to be able to create symbols of progress, to create having ambassadors within the community representing all of these things.'
Al Arabiya
21 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
James Harden signing new 2-year deal to stay with Los Angeles Clippers, AP source says
James Harden is opting out of the final year of his contract with the Los Angeles Clippers and signing a new deal that would be worth $81.5 million to stay with the team for the next two seasons, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Sunday. Harden can opt out of the new deal next summer, said the person, who talked to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the contract cannot yet be signed or announced. Harden averaged 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 8.7 assists last season–his 16th in the league. He was an All-Star for the 11th time and returned to the All-NBA team for the first time since the 2019–20 season. Harden is one of only four players in NBA history to average at least 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists in his 16th season or later. The others: LeBron James (seven times), Kobe Bryant (twice), and Kevin Durant (once). He has the second-most 3-pointers in a career with 3,175, behind only Golden State's Stephen Curry (4,058). Harden will enter the season 11th on the NBA's scoring list with 27,687 points, within reach of No. 10 Carmelo Anthony (28,289) and No. 9 Shaquille O'Neal (28,596). And Harden is 13th in assists with 8,316, 208 behind No. 12 Andre Miller and 650 behind No. 11 Gary Payton.
