Vlade Divac headlines international basketball stars of FIBA's Players' Commission

Regardless of the media hype and talent that is associated with NBA basketball in North America, the folks who really run the sport are located in the little town of Mies in Switzerland. The Fédération Internationale de Basket-ball, or FIBA, define the rules of basketball and, host the major international basketball events, and comprise of the game's governing body. Secretary General Patrick Baumann and President Horacio Muratore are two of the top officials running the hoops world.

But basketball isn't played by officials, it's played by players. And rightfully so, the players have their own FIBA Players' Commission, a committee whose responsibility is to represent all players - men, women and youth - across all types of basketball in the world. The new FIBA Players' Commission board members (for the term of 2014-19) were announced by FIBA yesterday and will be headlined by chairman Vlade Divac. Divac, an international and NBA legend from Serbia, has won two FIBA Basketball World Cups and three EuroBaskets. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010. Divac played in the NBA for the Lakers, Hornets, and Kings, and made the 2001 NBA All Star team. Last September, he became the first-ever players representative and as such serves on the 26-member FIBA Central Board.

The FIBA Players' Commission has 14 spots, 13 of which have been named with one spot from the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) still to follow. Aside of Divac, the other players on the list include Philippines' veteran guard Jimmy Alapag, WNBA and three-time Olympic Champion from USA Katie Smith, and more. Alapag is the only representative from Asia in the Commission.

See the full list of the international basketball stars chosen for the current FIBA Players' Commission here.