Divac and His Lakers: the Payoff Is Mutual : Basketball: He has endorsements. They have a big-time center, even if his conditioning and defense need to improve.

They were just a couple of kids from Belgrade with stars in their eyes, Anna an aspiring actress and Vlade a basketball player, alongside the other young marrieds in the Marina.

Why is it Vlade Divac never blends in too long?

Maybe it’s because he’s 7 feet 1 . . . and talented . . . and lovable . . . not to mention a trial to his doting elders.

A year later, he’s the Southland’s favorite Yugo. His face is on T-shirts at your local athletic apparel outlet. Check it out: Among the Lakers, only Magic Johnson has higher visibility. A razor company just paid Divac a lot to shave his beard--it grew back in five days.

Is this a great country or what? Yugoslavia never saw an endorsement opportunity like that. What’s a 22-year-old immigrant to think?

“I like it,” said Divac, smiling as always.

Pay a lot, did it?

“Yeah,” he said brightly. “Why not?”

Why not, indeed? Divac has been named the Lakers’ starting center, joining a proud and/or colorful line that includes not only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain but Elmore Smith and Ray Felix, the last achieving immortality when, according to legend, he informed teammates after a seventh-game playoff loss: “Don’t worry guys, we’ll get ‘em tomorrow.”

Where to fit Divac in?

In talent, he slides in neatly after Abdul-Jabbar and Chamberlain--really. He won’t score 39,000 points in a career or 100 in a game, but he has big-time tools: mobility, timing, touch and ballhandling ability uncommon, or unheard of, for a man who is 7-1 and 245 pounds.

As far as colorful goes, he’s right there.

This is a man his teammates call “Zoomy,” who nodded off during Pat Riley’s meetings.

Who, asked if he watches a lot of TV, said, “Yes. Sony.”

Who, asked about ducking out of his Yugoslav military obligation, said: “Is stupid. We never go to war.”

In fundamentals, he’s, uh, catching up . . . or not.

“The problem I keep finding with him,” said Divac’s training camp tutor, Abdul-Jabbar, “is the fact he doesn’t know how to play defense in the pivot. He has bad instincts because he played (in a) zone his whole life. You just can’t change that in a year. And that’s probably what hurts the team about his being on the court.

“Right now, he’s not that far advanced over last year.”

Conditioning?

Coach Mike Dunleavy included Divac in his group of Lakers in less than tiptop shape during the early sessions in camp. “A few guys needed a lung transplant,” was the way Dunleavy put it.

Laker officials are concerned that Divac seems to have fallen off his conditioning program last summer between trips to Yugoslavia and to Argentina for basketball’s World Cup.

“I would much rather have had Vlade in the summer league with us,” Dunleavy said. “I didn’t get into the situation with passports and visas. I just said, ‘Hey, I’d like to see him here (as) soon as we can see him here.’

“I just put in the request. I don’t make the deliveries.”

Dare one ask about practice habits?

“He’s kind of limp in practices,” assistant coach Bill Bertka said, “but he likes to play in games.

“That was one of the traits he had coming from the European arena, where he was like a superstar. Their practices are a little different than ours. They don’t recognize the intensity that we require.”

On the other hand, all of the above are admirers. Abdul-Jabbar rates Divac’s skill level as “high.” Bertka notes that he’s “a very, very quick learner.”

Given all Divac has had to learn--including English--he’s the next thing to a basketball Einstein, which is why the Lakers have reason to hope.

We’re not talking about a little jump. Several Europeans have tried it, but most of the heavy hitters--notably Lithuania/Portland’s 7-3 Arvidas Sabonis and Yugoslavia/Boston’s 6-11 Dino Radja--haven’t been able to pass up the easy Italian League and Spanish League money for the hard U.S. challenge.

Divac, then 21 and not yet making the big Eurodollar, went for broke. He and Anna packed their bags, and here they are.

“My great friend from Yugoslavia, Dino Radja, he goes in Italy and makes $50 million for five years,” Divac said.

That’s $50 million? American dollars?

“Yes,” Divac said. “And no taxes. Over that, new car, new house, money for food.

“My dream, play in NBA. When I come here, very difficult for me. It’s new country, new language. But is still basketball for me.”

Was he sure he was good enough?

“I know it. I watch before Lakers. Lakers are my favorite team. But I don’t know how they are personally. How is Magic? How is James Worthy? I saw, everybody is great guy.”

And what about adjustment? It was all adjustment.

“I play in August in World Cup,” Divac said. “I think--now I’m serious--NBA basketball is different sport. Has same basket and court, that’s all. In Europe, play very slow, no defense.

“When I come, I know nothing (about defense). I’m serious. Nothing. I play soft. I don’t go in weight room. I was very--how you say?--not strong. Now, not very strong, but stronger than last year because every day I do weights with (trainer) Gary Vitti.”

Vlade and Anna say the rest of it was easier. They call home once a week. He said he was rarely homesick.

Cultural shock? Nah, they love L.A.

“I like it so much,” Anna said. “Vlade also. It’s not strange because we went to Western European cities. We started to learn about America. We saw American people, American movies; we listen to American music. Yugoslavia, it’s not like Russia.”

To the Lakers, Divac was found treasure. In less than 20 minutes a game, he averaged 8.5 points and shot 49.9%. His rebound and shot-blocking paces would have put him in the top 10 of the NBA.

Also, he was fun to have around.

“He looks like Yakov Smirnov and has the same kind of humor, too,” teammate Mychal Thompson said. “Anytime you come from a closed-in country like he came from, you have to develop a sense of humor. Otherwise, you go nuts. That government takes away everything else.”

Thompson jokes through his wounded pride. The Lakers awarded his job to Divac, hoping to develop a young presence in the middle.

Their presence looks a little shaky right now. At first, Divac said not to worry, he was really in shape--it was just the humid Hawaiian air in the Lakers’ practice gym. However, the scene shifted to air-conditioned Blaisdell Arena for the exhibitions against the Trail Blazers without producing a revived Divac.

The Lakers, keen to see how prodigious their prodigy gets, watch and wait and hope.