Top 55 Vlade Divac Quotes

Playing basketball taught me the value of determination and teamwork.

The fans really know basketball in Sacramento. They knew when we really needed their support and they were a big part of our success here.

Since the age of 12, I was on my own. Everything I do, I get my parents’ support.

The better team sometimes loses.

Sacramento and the Kings organization were always in my thoughts and I often dreamed of having a role in helping our amazing fans realize the ultimate NBA prize.

I didn’t like it in the beginning, but later on, if I was in Jerry West’s shoes, I would do the same thing. I would trade myself for Kobe, no-brainer.

First of all, I would love to see people remember me as a good passer, not as a good flopper. But flopping was, in some period of my career, a part of my game, especially against Shaquille O’Neal. It was the only way I could try to stop him. And I did well, I guess.

L.A. is very big and very nice city.

My generation started in big tournaments. ’88 Olympics, we got silver. ’89 European Championship, we got gold. 1990 World Cup in Argentina, we got gold. ’91 European Championship, we got gold, and then there was a civil war, and for three years, we didn’t play.

It’s a team game. I feel happier when I pass the ball than when I score.

The year when I left my country, there was still peace. The year after, the war broke out, a lot of people lost their homes, lost their families. When I go back 20 years later I still find people living in refugee camps. So I tried to help them find homes.

The game of basketball brings people together. It really doesn’t matter where you are coming from. It’s a game all of us love.

I don’t enjoy playing against Shaq.

I always enjoy playing against great players. You can learn from the best.

Sport has built me as a man and taught me not just to compete, but to lead the team as well.

I think when you play with someone, you tend to pick up their game and try to develop something together.

To build a friendship takes so much time and so many years. To ruin it, just seconds.

I am not going to play basketball because I have to play. I am going to play for fun.

We take life… we should take it more seriously, because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow.

I play for peace and love.

The people of the Balkans are like a dysfunctional family. We may fight and argue, but in the end we are family.

My dream, play in NBA. When I come here, very difficult for me. It’s new country, new language. But is still basketball for me.

To me, the game of basketball has always been about love.

I just think positive and positive things usually happen.

As athletes and pro sports franchises, we have the responsibility to use our platform to affect positive change in the community. I take it seriously.

Throughout my professional basketball career, I have always voiced my patriotism for my native land.

Wins heal everything.

I like geography. I think I know every country in the world. If someone from another country plays for my team, I will know where he is from.

In any profession, you can’t reach the top without loving what you do.

Yugoslavia is a little country, and everybody likes basketball. If I don’t play for my national team, everybody be sad.

I was taller than most of the kids. When I started playing basketball, my coach put me at point guard. Europeans do that sometimes.

Love liberates you and gives you the power to make the impossible possible.

I believe that love gives you the freedom and power to share your best self and to inspire others.

If you try to win and you lose, you can say, ‘OK I tried.’

I’m a private person.

People always said you shouldn’t get in politics and talk about politics. But I believe the politics are all around us.

Because I play in NBA, I am like ambassador of Yugoslavia. Los Angeles before, nobody hear of Yugoslavia. Now I think much people who look at basketball hear of Yugoslavia.

Jerry West really helped a lot, and so did players like Magic Johnson. That’s why, at the end of my career, I wanted to finish my career with the Lakers.

I am thankful to the Kings organization, all the Kings fans, my family and all the people who supported me throughout my career.

When I came in the NBA, it was more a U.S. game. Now you can watch the NBA anywhere in the world.

In soccer, you don’t want to see anybody get hurt.

I really, really like Los Angeles.

The Lakers are really the biggest team in the world. Everybody knows the Lakers.

Success in sport comes with responsibility.

Well, the league is changing every year. It changed when I came. It changed before me. First of all, we have to be thankful for all those guys in the ’60s and ’70s. They made this league one of the best sports leagues in the world.

I love basketball, but it’s just entertainment, just business.

Basketball is like life and life is like basketball. It’s just a game. So lets play the best we can while we are still here with love, compassion, selflessness fairplay and supporting each other to be bigger and better human beings.

People in the NBA, as far as Europeans or international players, they respect them now. I didn’t have any respect from anybody. I had to earn my way.

It’s good for basketball to grow.

As in life, to be the best in basketball you can’t put any limits on your existence.

I play my best when I’m enjoying myself. So whoever I play against, I try to have fun.

For a lot of Croats, if you’re a Serb, they don’t want to associate with you. It’s just stupid.

Shaq wasn’t talented – he was just strong. I was talented, but I wasn’t strong.

Kobe made an impact on basketball in a big way. He came in the League when he was 17 years old, but he was working on his game every day… The way he played, people all around the world loved the passion that he put in for basketball.

I had a beautiful life as a basketball player.