Lakers Question Report That Divac Drafted by Army

Jerry West, general manager of the Lakers, said Saturday that wire service reports out of Belgrade that Vlade Divac, the center the Lakers drafted in the first round in June, had been drafted by the Yugoslavian army had not been confirmed.

West said that contrary to reports in Yugoslav newspapers saying Divac had been notified Friday that he must report to the garrison town of Trebinje Sept. 19, Divac had not received any official notification.

“We’re not going to comment until we hear, officially, what’s going on,” West said. “We’ve been trying to straighten it out, but it’s difficult on the weekend.”

The Lakers signed Divac to a three-year contract Monday. Asked if the Lakers had been given any indication that the military draft might interfere with Divac’s availability, West said: “We still don’t know that that’s the case.”

In an Associated Press story, Drazen Dalipagic, the manager of Divac’s previous club, said that arrangements had been made in July to postpone Divac’s military service to allow him to continue playing for the club, Belgrade Partizan, until next summer’s World Championships.

Partizan officials then agreed to let Divac sign with the Lakers.

But Yugoslavia’s national team officials apparently do not want him to play in Los Angeles. “Divac told us in July he would play for at least another season in Yugoslavia,” Ugljesa Uzelac, president of the Yugoslav Basketball Union, told Vecernje Novosti, a daily newspaper.

“He promised to play for Yugoslavia at the World Championships and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona,” Uzelac said.

Uzelac reportedly added that the Yugoslav federation at that time interceded with the draft board to postpone the callup. “However, when we were informed that Divac had signed with the Lakers, we notified the military authorities, and they changed their ruling,” Uzelac said.

West said that Divac’s contract would permit him to play for his national team in the World Championships and Olympic Games.

Divac, who is in Los Angeles playing in the summer league, was quoted by Vecernje Novosti saying that he was surprised to hear that the decision had been changed. “I have the right to wait until I am 27 to serve my army stint,” Divac reportedly said.

According to wire service reports, all able-bodied Yugoslav men are required to serve one year in the military between the ages of 19 and 27. Many top athletes join only toward the end of that period.