Former Los Angeles Lakers center Vlade Divac stepped down from his job as general manager of the Sacramento Kings on Friday, announcing the move after the Kings officially finished in the NBA bubble and wrapped up their 14th year in a row of not making the playoffs.
Both the franchise and Divac made it clear in their joint statement that this wasn’t an easy decision for either party, but now that Divac is no longer running a (mostly theoretical) division rival, the Lakers really should give him his flowers, because so much of their illustrious history and good fortune would not have been possible without the big man who was once best known for (allegedly) smoking cigarettes in the locker room at halftime of games.