“In Slovenia, it’s not cussing.”: Luka Doncic justifies dropping F-bomb as Eastern European pleasantry
Luka Doncic had a slip of the tongue when conducting a post-game interview following the Dallas Mavericks season-opening win against the San Antonio Spurs. Doncic's expletive comment occurred when he was asked about the debut performance of rookie big man Derek Lively II.
Doncic noted how Lively II had played, "f****** amazing." However, the Mavericks superstar quickly realized his mistake and began to apologize. It was clearly a slip of the tongue and wasn't meant to be edgy or aggressive. Doncic then explained that in Slovenia, f*** and words of that nature aren't considered swearing, pointing toward a cultural difference:
“In Slovenia, it’s not cussing. Really! We say these words for good morning," ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported on X.
Lively II saw 30 minutes of playing time in his debut game, scoring 16 points and securing five rebounds to give him a double-double in his first official NBA game. Lively II will provide the Dallas Mavericks with the interior presence they've been needing in their second unit and will clearly help them control their defensive glass throughout the regular season.
Doncic was clearly a fan of his performance. Derek Lively II will need to continue operating at such a high level if he wishes to remain part of the Mavericks rotation moving forward.
Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are figuring out how to play together
Against the San Antonio Spurs, both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving had impressive games. Furthermore, the star duo appeared to be in tandem and played to each other's strengths. Before the Mavericks season-opener, Doncic had revealed how he and Irving had been discussing ways to share the ball-handling duties throughout the upcoming season during a pre-game press conference:
"Mostly, I don't run … not with the ball. I make the throw-ahead pass. I think that's been working pretty good. Sometimes, I talk with Ky about it. We're going to exchange the handling of the ball. So say, for example, when it's a free throw, maybe I get the ball, but when it's like open, when it's not stoppage, he will take it. So we're going to exchange that."
Doncic continued:
"When I was in Madrid, I played like this. I remember playing with Llull, so we were the same. We would exchange, so I remember playing like this."
Judging by what we saw from both star guards, their discussions are already paying dividends. Neither Luka Doncic nor Kyrie Irving struggled to get to their spots or to have the ball when they wanted it. Instead, both thrived while playing alongside each other. Their combined performances will encourage the Mavericks coaching staff and fanbase.
However, this was just one game. Doncic and Irving will continue developing their on-court chemistry if they want their season to be productive and successful.