DALLAS —
Frustrating or fruitful?
Rok Dežman was one of the Slovenian youth basketball coaches who taught (and learned from) a very young Luka Dončić. Dežman spotted the generational talent immediately. But he complains that Doncic’s complaining to the refs started in his first game when he was a little kid.
“I was really furious and still when he does it, I just can't…I can't watch it. Just can't," Dežman said.
But in a counterpoint: Tilen Lamut, a commentator for Arena Sport Slovenia, notes that Luka seems to thrive on that friction with the whistleblowers.
“We can all argue that it's too much, but like his father always says, it is who he is," Lamut said. "And if you take that away, that extra edge, maybe he's even looking for something when talking to the refs.”
Learning the hard way…
The trick passes that have become a Doncic trademark also started early on and were sometimes very unsettling for Coach Dežman.
“I remember it was one tight game. He went into the transition," he said. "It was a two-on-one situation, and he passed behind the back. Don't do that! We’ve got to win the game!"
But then the coach learned a lesson from the player, says Dežman.
“Sooner or later, they have to try it," he said. "Yeah, okay, maybe not in this situation. They have to be smart, but they have to try it on, even in the game.”
More learning the hard way…
When he disagreed with his coach, Dežman says Doncic would go out and make his point by… making points his way.
“He stepped up, and he showed you that you're wrong," he said. "And that was something that I was really amazed.”
A home away from home
At the age of 13, Doncic left his family and his country to go play in Spain in the bigger leagues.
Another of his youth coaches in Slovenia, Lojze Šiško, shares, “I talked a lot with his mom and dad. It wasn't easy for him. He was away from home. The first year was really tough. But after that, you know Luka is so open and yeah, he blossomed.”
Here’s some of what that blossoming looked like. Donicic dominated. And to this day, in his adopted childhood home, there is an enduring love for Doncic.
“He has a huge following in Spain. Madrid loves him," Iztok Franco, a Slovenia-based sports analyst and writer for D magazine said. "I remember I did one story in September (2023) when they (the Mavs) played their first game there against Real Madrid. And people were telling us 'Luka is our son…he's a Spanish boy.'”
Lots of pressure? No pressure
Franco shares: “I remember a story from Goran Dragic who was like our star before. In 2017 when they won the Euro title, Goran was like a 30-year-old vet captain. And Luka was an 18-year-old rookie boy. And he said we were roommates before the finals. And he said I was turning around in my bed all night because I was so nervous before. And I looked at Luka. He was snoring like a baby the whole night.”
Doncic went on to be named MVP and led the team to a championship. Can he do it again now?
The Finals Analysis
Don’t ever count out Dončić. After watching some of the shots Luka knocks down, Franco says, “I see Stan Van Gundy laughing in the studio. I'm laughing thousands of miles away. It's like you can analyze whatever you want, but it's nothing, you know. Just like crazy guy making crazy shots. So, there's no analyzing.”
