Luka Doncic: 5 Lesser known facts about the European rookie sensation
Luka Doncic is a Slovenian basketball player who just might set the NBA on fire in the upcoming season. The 19-year-old has already been filling up the stat sheet in Liga ACB and EuroLeague for Real Madrid.
He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks and traded to the Dallas Mavericks as the 3rd overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft.
Doncic will enter the NBA at 19 years old, the same age as the majority of freshman prospects declaring for the draft. The major difference is that Doncic already has three years of professional basketball experience. Basically, he’s always been a step ahead of his age group and dominated the European basketball landscape last season as a mere teenager.
College prospects are often more exciting to fans because they are more familiar, but the competition Doncic consistently faced in Europe is more difficult than any American player has faced coming into the draft.
His NBA profile reads: "Luka Doncic is a skilled playmaker with a mature game beyond his years coming off one of the best seasons any teenager has ever had in the best professional league outside of the NBA."
About his playmaking abilities, it states: "Not the most explosive or shifty athlete, but fluid and crafty getting to spots with the potential to become more dynamic as his body improve."
Real Madrid’s teenage sensation is by all accounts the best European prospect in years.
So let's get to know the dynamic 6'8 prospect that has the NBA universe drooling.
#1 Originally Slovenian, Doncic moved to Spain after receiving an offer from Real Madrid at 13
Luka Doncic represented the Slovenian club, Union Olimpija, at the under-14 Vasas Intesa Sanpaolo Cup in Budapest where he emerged Most Valuable Player (MVP), despite finishing as runners-up to FC Barcelona. For his dominant and impressive performance, he got the front office of Real Madrid interested in him.
According to SLAM, Doncic received an offer at 13 to play for Real Madrid. After much deliberation, he took the risk and moved to Spain. He signed a deal with the Spanish club and played for the under-16 team in the Minicopa Endesa, an under-14 Spanish club competition.
“Not just once [thought about going back],” Doncic told SLAM. “All my friends, school, family—everything was in Slovenia, but after I learned Spanish it was easier to communicate, to make new friends.”