“Said It in Slovenian”: Luka Doncic, En Route to His 49 Points, Claims to Have Called ‘Bank’ on His Game Winner to His Former Mavs Teammate

Luka Doncic stunned everyone in the league with a 49-point performance in the Dallas Mavericks’ recent matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. If his points tally wasn’t enough, the Slovenian put the icing on the cake by hitting the game-winning buzzer-beater against the Nets. Interestingly, Doncic found an epic way to troll his former Mavs teammate Dorian Finney-Smith by reportedly shouting ‘bank’ after hitting the shot.

Doncic’s hook-shot backboard three considerably helped the Mavericks gain the lead at the end of the fourth quarter. However, Finney-Smith didn’t hear Doncic’s ‘bank’ call, as he later told the media. Quite cheekily, Doncic had a response ready for the occasion.

Luka Doncic called ‘bank’ on his game-winning three-point shot against former teammate Dorian Finney-Smith

Luka Doncic had a phenomenal game against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. The Slovenian dropped 49 points against the Nets to seal a remarkable 125-120 win for the Dallas Mavericks. One of the best highlights en route to his 49-point performance was a game-winning hook-shot, backboard three-pointer, which gave the Mavs a much-needed lead towards the end of the fourth quarter.

Interestingly, Doncic was facing his former Dallas teammate Dorian Finney-Smith, who was traded alongside Spencer Dinwiddie to the Nets in February this year. While pulling his game-winner shot, Doncic claimed to have called ‘bank’ on it in front of Finney-Smith.

Though the Nets star initially denied Luka ever making such calls, Doncic later confirmed in the post-game conference that he said it in Slovenian and that’s why his former teammate did not understand the call:

“I said it in Slovenian so he wouldn’t understand.” 

Here is a clip from the press conference, uploaded by Landon Thomas on X.

Indeed, Luka Doncic has again entered the MVP conversations after such a phenomenal performance in just the second game of the season. Previously, in the season opener against the San Antonio Spurs, the Slovenian impressed fans with a triple-double performance, scoring 33 points, ten assists, and 13 rebounds in the game.

If Luka Doncic continues performing the way he is currently doing, then the Mavs have a good chance of finding a top playoff seed for this season.

Doncic misses having Dorian Finney-Smith as his teammate

Luka Doncic’s phenomenal final three-pointer was something rarely seen in the league. During his post-game interview, Doncic admitted to having worked on his backboard shot that gave Dallas their incredible game-winner on Friday night. The 24-year-old even named coach Daryl Armstrong and God Shammgod as witnesses to him working on perfecting such a shot.

“I work on that. Ask Sham and DA. That’s a question for them. I work off the backboard. Ask them. I called bank. They know its bank so Shamgod and DA, they know it’s a bank.”

Though Doncic pulled the bank shot against his former teammate Dorian Finney-Smith, there isn’t any bad blood between the players now that they are rivals in the league. In fact, Doncic misses playing with his former teammate.