EL SEGUNDO, Calif., July 20 -- The Los Angeles Lakers have signed center Vlade Divac, it was announced today. Per team policy, terms of the agreement were not released.
Divac, a 15-year NBA veteran, began his career with the Lakers when Los Angeles selected him in the first round (26th overall) of the 1989 NBA Draft. In his first seven NBA seasons with the Lakers, Divac averaged 12.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 520 games. In 51 postseason games with Los Angeles, he increased his scoring average to 12.8 points while pulling down 7.0 rebounds per game.
Named to the 1989-90 NBA All-Rookie First Team, Divac helped the Lakers reach the 1991 NBA Finals in his second season and increased his scoring average in each of his first six seasons, recording a career-best 16.0 points per game during the 1994-95 campaign.
Named to the 2001 Western Conference All-Star team as a member of the Sacramento Kings, Divac has led all NBA centers in assists per game in six of the last nine seasons, including a career-best 5.3 assists per game during the 2003-04 season (20th in the NBA).
In addition, Divac is one of only three players in NBA history (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon) to amass 13,000 points (13,364), 9,000 rebounds (9,294), 3,000 assists (3,522) and 1,500 blocked shots (1,630).
A member of the 1988 and 1996 Olympic silver medal-winning Yugoslavian National Teams, the 7'1" center out of Serbia has averaged 11.9 points, 8.3 rebounds 3.1 assists and 1.46 blocks in 1,119 career games.