LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — In addition to airing every game of the 2024 NBA Finals on our station, WFAA is also hosting a special presentation called "The Pregame" before every matchup in the series. Head here for more information.
True love always requires sacrifice. That’s why many have been choosing to go sleepless in Slovenia to show affection for their home country hero.
The ‘Land of Luka’ is seven hours ahead of DFW. That doesn’t normally create a dilemma. But a 7:30 p.m. NBA Finals start in Texas is a 2:30 a.m. Slovenian sacrifice.
“I did not go to sleep," Ema Burazer told us at an overnight watch party in the capital city of Ljubljana for game 1.
It can be hard to be a Mavs fan when you are 5,500 miles away from the action. This social media post by Luka Doncic superfan Gregor Sevšek captures that sentiment. But Sevšek says fan fatigue in Slovenia doesn’t seem to be a thing,
“Half of Slovenia is waking up for the Dallas Mavericks game," he said.
Even he acknowledges that is an exaggeration, but enough people are watching that Arena Sport Slovenia, which broadcasts the NBA games, just added unprecedented middle-of-the-night pre-game coverage for The Finals.
Tilen Lamut, a commentator for Arena, explains why TV ratings for the Mavs have been rising in the country through the playoffs:
“We never had a guy in a role like Luka is now. It's different," Lamut said. "It’s much easier to wake up. You wake up with much more adrenaline if there's a Slovenian player playing that kind of role, being a superstar…basically being the number-one guy not only for his team, but also for the whole series.”
And those who wake up extra early for the newly added pre-game coverage can also stay up for the new post-game analysis, too — which takes place just after sunrise.
“Yeah, it's going to be crazy until 6 a.m.” says broadcast contributor and Slovenia-based writer for D Magazine, Iztok Franko.
And it’s all happening because of a collective love for Luka that can be hard for an outsider to fully comprehend.
“Maybe it’s a bombastic statement, but I would say it's like the real true Slovenian superstar and not I'm not saying only sports, but I would say in general," Franko said. "When it comes to music, politics, we had people who had success, people who are famous but more like niche.”
Asked whether he thinks Doncic might be the biggest name to ever come out of Slovenia, Franco says, ‘It’s hard to value brands…personal brands…but if you do, I would say by a million.”
Still, cheering on Luka and company in game 1 was tough. Burazer admits it was hard to stay awake back at that watch party, “Yeah, because nothing went in”.
But their love for Luka is also patient and resilient. “You can't just root for somebody when they're up. If they're knocked down, you still got to encourage the team,” Matija Otstanek told us at the same watch party.
Hours after the loss of game 1 and the loss of a night of sleep, Luka’s hometown was bustling again in a crowded market in the city’s historic center. And fans were already predicting the Mavs would similarly bounce back quickly, predicting Luka’s team would still win the series, even if it goes longer than they initially anticipated.