Luka Doncic just willed his Dallas Mavericks to a comeback 96-93 road win in Game 2 of their first-round series against the Clippers. The 25-year-old had a dominant 32-point night, once again showing up for his team. As it turns out, Luka had the magical gene in him since he was a child. Retired NBA star, Slovenian maestro Goran Dragic, was a guest on the latest episode of his former Miami Heat teammates, Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem’s, The OGs podcast. The trio discussed several topics, including Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, whom Dragic had known since he was a toddler.
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Dragic and Doncic’s father, Sasa Doncic, played together for the Olimpija Basketball Club in the Slovenian Basketball League and won the league title in 2008. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, the former Heat star once spoke about Sasa’s impact on his career, saying,
“One of the craziest stories is when I was 15, I signed my first professional contract. On that team, my mentor was Sasa Doncic, the father of Luka Doncic. I have known Luka since he was a baby, a kid. He would be there mopping the floor.”
During the podcast appearance, Dragic told Miller and Haslem that while he and Sasa Doncic were leading Olimpija on the court, an eight-year-old Luka acted as the ball boy and was always around the team. The 37-year-old said that he saw Luka’s game develop right before his eyes. Dragic further revealed that he was much better than players his age and torched them on the court.
Haslem then asked Dragic if he knew that the Mavericks star would become a global sensation when he was watching him grow up. He responded,
“You know when I knew? In 2017, we had a training camp for the [Slovenian] national team before the 2017 EuroBasket. [Luka Doncic] was 17 and just watching him in practice, [I went] ‘Oh my God!’ He’d make some passes that I didn’t even know how he was doing that. His IQ was so good at 17, I knew [he would become a star].”
Doncic and Dragic went on to lead Slovenia to their maiden EuroBasket title in the 2017 edition. Dragic was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, while Doncic featured on the Team of the Tournament alongside his compatriot. Following Dragic’s retirement in December of 2023, Doncic was asked about playing with the former All-Star on the Slovenian National Team. He said,
“The most amazing journey I had with him was the EuroBasketball medal. It was an amazing run for him. And I’m just glad I know him. I’m glad I played with him. And I learned actually about leadership in that tournament. He taught me a lot.”
Life eventually came full circle for Dragic, who once was Sasa Doncic’s mentee, and almost a decade later, became his son Luka Doncic’s mentor.
Luka Doncic shocked Goran Dragic with how easily he settled in the NBA
After playing alongside Luka Doncic in the EuroBasket 2017 tournament, Goran Dragic knew his compatriot was a special talent, who’d become an NBA superstar. While the veteran was convinced about the young star’s potential, he was grossly mistaken about how long it’d take him to adapt to the NBA’s playstyle and speed. In an interview with ESPN in 2021, Dragic said,
“I thought he was going to need some more time to develop and to figure out the NBA style and NBA game. I knew that in four or five years, he would be one of the best players in the league. But, yeah, he demonstrated that I was wrong about that. It happened a lot faster.”
Dragic predicted it’d take four or five years for Doncic to become an NBA superstar. However, the Slovenian sensation won Rookie of the Year for his incredible debut season and earned an All-NBA First-Team in each of the four subsequent campaigns. Doncic is en route to earning his fifth All-NBA First Team nod in just his sixth season in the NBA.
