Tall tales and words of advice from NBA legend
The words of Vlade Divac are no doubt still ringing in the ears of one or two New Zealand Breakers with the glint of the NBA in their eyes. If they're smart, the Thomas Abercrombies of the Kiwi hoops scene will heed the advice of a fellow who knows all about breaking down the barriers.
Divac, a Serbian, was one of the first wave of European players to have a major impact on the NBA, and eventually carved out a highly successful 16-year career in the association that netted him a tidy US$93 million ($111.5m) in salary. He started off with Magic Johnson at the Los Angeles Lakers, spent three years at the expansion Charlotte Hornets, moved on to the Sacramento Kings where, alongside Chris Webber and countryman Peja Stojakovic, he would usher in a golden era for the franchise, and then returned for an ill-fated final stint back at the Lakers before back problems ended his career.
The 2.16m Divac, with his subtle skills and natural instincts, brought a different dimension to the centre position throughout his career and was at least partly responsible for the "Europeanisation" of the NBA.

He is tall and lanky at 6'11", and will of course need some time adjusting to the NBA. He is only 21, so hopefully team management will be patient. Vesely is very similar to Denver Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari in that he drives well to the basket
Their front line is not that big and is not physical, except for Dejuan Blair, and he is not tall by any means. Duncan is really a power forward playing out of position. He is still effective, but he can't cover up for their lack of size and
WHEN it comes to basketball, Mill Park's Matt Reynolds and Doreen's Isabella Brancatisano stand tall. Reynolds, 18, and Brancatisano, 16, will represent Victoria in the Big V under-20s men's team and the under-18 metro women's team respectively.





