Monthly Motivation: Wanted – Size 17 Shoes

Just a few days ago, a friend donated a pair of Vlade Divac autographed shoes, Divac played center for the NBA in the 1990’s. Standing at 7’1 tall, Divac was drafted by the L.A. Lakers in 1989 in the first round, later ending his career as a Sacramento King in 2005. Currently, Divac is the acting General Manager of the Sacramento Kings. Divac is one of seven players in NBA history to record 13,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists and 1,500 block shots and was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010.

His game shoes are over 20 years old that were donated to the HCC, but were only worn once by Divac, so they were in perfect condition after sitting in a box for the past ten years. Our plan was to sell the shoes online and donate the money to MSC/HCC. However, another non-profit who offers recovery empowerment and mental illness assistance, sent over an email looking for one special item. The WANTED item was one pair of gym shoes size 17! There is a young man, age 22, who has been looking for a decent pair of sneakers for some time now, and if anyone came across a size 17 please let them know.   After grabbing Divac’s shoes out of their box, we wondered just what size the 7’1 giant wears… it just so happens that Divac is also a size 17! Divac’s shoes found a new home, they won’t be on display any longer, and instead they provided pure joy to the feet of this young man who not only has new Nikes to rock, but gets to wear shoes from a NBA star!