Vlade Divac considered retiring after hearing about trade to Charlotte, which would have blocked the Lakers' path to Kobe Bryant.
The Los Angeles Lakers hit the jackpot in 1996, working their way into position to select high school phenom Kobe Bryant in exchange for Vlade Divac, but the deal almost never came to be. Divac was "devastated" when he found out the Lakers were trading him to the Charlotte Hornets, and considered retirement as an option which would have held up the deal, Marc J. Spears revealed in a great story for Yahoo Sports on Vlade's involvement in the franchise-altering move.