Luka Doncic grew up on the basketball court. His father, Sasa Doncic, was a very well-respected player in the European scene. His professional career ensured Luka got the right exposure at a really young age. Exposure that paved the path for him to join Real Madrid and play for one of the most influential teams in Europe.
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He signed a 5-year contract with Madrid and moved to Spain to play for their Youth team. Until then, Luka had lived in Slovenia, played in Slovenia, and naturally, he only spoke Slovenian and a little bit of English.
Which made the transition from Slovenia to Spain difficult. The 13-year-old had nothing in his Spanish vocabulary outside of a few broad pleasantries. This made the beginning of his journey with Real Madrid a learning experience in more ways than one.
“It was a difficult decision, honestly,” Doncic said about the move on Mind the Game. “First, I didn’t know the language yet. I knew a little bit, just like, ‘Hello, how are you?’ But then nobody spoke my language.”
The challenge of not knowing the language that was primarily used to communicate pushed Luka to the extreme. He also confessed that this inability to talk to anyone for a few months put his Spanish learning ability on an express train.
Luka revealed, “It was a lot, you know, the first two, three months, I almost didn’t spoke to anybody. But that’s how I learned Spanish so quickly. And after that, it was just an amazing journey.”
Basketball wasn’t the only thing Doncic focused on in Madrid
Once he was settled in his new home, Doncic’s priorities completely revolved around school and basketball. For the vast majority of nearly every single day, he was either at school, practicing, or playing games. “We started at 7:30, something like that, to 8:30, we had practice, and then from 9:15 to 5:30 was school,” the Lakers guard shared, to Steve Nash’s surprise.
“9:15 to 5:30? No wonder you’re so smart,” the Suns legend said to Doncic. “Appreciate that,” Luka said with a smile. “And then 6 to 9 was practice. On Wednesday, we didn’t have practice, but every other day, and then Saturday games.” For a young boy still in the thick of his adolescence, this was quite a grueling schedule, but it clearly paid off.
Doncic had an incredibly successful next few years with Real Madrid, eventually winning the EuroLeague MVP as a 19-year-old, becoming the youngest winner in the award’s history. A year later, he was playing for the Mavericks alongside Dirk Nowitzki.
Luka was certainly put through a lot as a child between moving countries, learning new languages, and constantly playing basketball, but it’s proven to be worth it in the long run.
