Announced at the very end of 2023, the jubilee of Goran Dragic will take place at his home, this Saturday in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Among all the stars who will be making the trip are former NBA teammates like Steve Nash and Chris Bosh. But also national team teammates like Luka Doncic.
Moreover, his relationship with Luka Doncic began well before they played together under the Slovenia jersey during international competitions, since he first played with Sasa Doncic, Luka's father. The Mavericks guard was only 3 years old…
“I signed my first professional contract at 15”, remembers Dragic. “And you know who my mentor was on that team? Sasa Doncic, Luka Doncic’s dad. Whenever we had a game or a practice, Luka, who was just a kid, would be there, mopping the floor and all that. In 2017, I played with him for the first time and now he’s an NBA superstar. It’s the cycle of life.”
A Eurobasket won with Luka Doncic
After playing with his father, he would play with his son 16 years later. It was during Eurobasket 2017, when Slovenia became European champions after beating Serbia in the final.
“It's easy to play with him”he confides in Thanasis Antetokounmpo's podcast. “In 2017, it was the first time we played together. At that time, Luka was a little different. He was still young and I took him under my wing. We were in the same room. Even then, you could see that he had incredible talent. To be a starter in the national team at 17, 18 years old. To make big stats. It was something incredible.”
The two leaders had the chance to play another summer together, at Eurobasket 2022. However, they did not have the same success since Slovenia only finished in 6th place, being prematurely eliminated in the quarter-finals by Poland.
“The last EuroBasket was a different story. At the time, I was Batman, he was Robin, and the roles were reversed.”explains the Slovenian. “I was really happy to play with him, he’s a great player. He’s a good kid. We used to hang out in the off-season, go to the Croatian island of Krk, and spend most of the time there with our families and kids. It was great. The only thing missing in 2022 was a medal.”
