Before becoming the general manager of the Kings, Vlade Divac played six seasons for the franchise and participated in the most controversial playoff series in NBA history.
It was the 2002 Western Conference finals against the Lakers – who had won the chip the previous two years and were looking for three points.
The series is still talked about in basketball circles today, thanks to the manager's controversial stance – especially in Game 6 on Sacramentos' home court.
Some say that the series and Game 6 in particular were rigged against the Kings. The Lakers' Game 6 win may have been attributed to them being awarded 40 free throw attempts, with 27 of those coming in the fourth quarter.
The Kings lost in Game 6 and lost again in Game 7 in extra time and Divac still insists that his team was better.
“I don't need a ring or a medal to know when I won, said Divac in his interview Index HR. “We had a great team, and I think we were a better team than the Lakers. If we had gone past them, we would have swept [New Jersey] The Nets are like the Lakers – 4:0 in the finals.”
“I was very proud of that Kings team. “For me, we were winners, just as I consider the Serbian national team as winners in the Olympic competition in Paris,” said the Hall of Famer. “Sacramento was a small team at the time with a small budget, we were not as popular with the media as the Lakers, and we showed that we can play better and better basketball than them.”
Divac was one of the best centers in the league at the time and Amakhosi was loaded with stars including Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, Mike Bibby and Doug Christie.
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