Former Kings center Vlade Divac, whose No. 21 will be retired during halftime of Sacramento's game against New Orleans on Tuesday night, helped paved the way for foreign-born players.

"That was the group that demonstrated that (foreign) players could play at the highest level," NBA Commissioner David Stern said of Sarunas Marciulionis, Sasha Volkov, Zarko Paspalj, Drazen Petrovic and Divac. "They're the ones who broke through, who became the precursors for what you see today."