Back when Luka Doncic was a young 16-year-old, he met his football icon, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Dallas Mavericks superstar was so nervous before meeting the Portuguese legend that he couldn’t even talk.
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Luka Doncic is a one-of-kind type of player. No one can deny the talent this Slovenian superstar possesses. In only 3 seasons in the NBA, Doncic has been able to achieve numerous feats and break several surreal records. At age 22, Luka is already one of the best players in the league. And will undoubtedly be one of the future faces of the NBA.
The resume the 6-foot-7 guard has racked up in only three seasons is absolutely insane. He is already a 2-time All-Star, 2-time All-NBA selection and was the 2019 ROY.
After putting up a historic 27.7 points, 8.6 assists and 8 rebounds this past 2020-2021 campaign, Doncic even managed to lead his inexperienced Slovenian team to a well-respected fourth position at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, defeating several powerhouses like Argentina, Spain and Germany.
Luka Doncic talks about his first-ever meeting with the football legend Cristiano Ronaldo
Basketball might be a global sport, but football (soccer) is the undisputed no. 1 sport in most parts of the world. Despite being a basketball prodigy ever since a kid, being Slovenian, Luka always had some football skills in him. And ever since he joined the NBA, the 22-year-old has been mesmerising fans with his incredible football skills.
Even though basketball is his sport, Luka quite religiously follows football, supporting his favourite team – Real Madrid. Back in 2020, Luka sat down with another NBA legend and fellow football enthusiast – Steve Nash, for an interview with “B/R Football”. The 2019 ROY spoke about his favourite footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and how their first meeting was, amongst a series of many other questions.
“Did you play soccer as a kid?”, Nash asked.
“Yeah. A lot. Like, four or five years. Striker.”, Doncic answered.
“Who was your team growing up?”, the current Brooklyn Nets head coach asked.
“Always Real Madrid. Always watched Real Madrid, always liked Real Madrid.”, Luka said without any hesitation.
“Who was your favourite player?”, Steve asked
“Ronaldo (Cristiano). He came here (Real Madrid) when I was 13.” The Dallas star went on to discuss the time he met his idol, Cristiano. “We’d do like, Christmas dinner with everybody – soccer player, basketball players. I was sitting with him at the table. I was like 16 when I met him and I was so nervous, I couldn’t even talk so I didn’t ask anything.”
Doncic funnily concluded while lauding CR7’s “awesome” car collection:
“One thing I wanted to, you know, always was to drive one of his cars. He has so many cars. Amazing car collection. I love cars.”
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Luka made his debut for the Real Madrid Basketball as a tender 16-year-old. As a young teenager, it definitely must’ve been overwhelming for him to meet one of football’s all-time greats.
Now that Doncic has all grown up, the next time he and the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner meet, they can surely have a great laugh reminiscing their first encounter.
