Thing promised, thing due! “I’ve been waiting for this match for months. For me, this is going to be one of the most unique matches for me, if not the most unique. I had talked to Mark Cuban about it so many times, and he told me it would happen one day.” Trained at Real Madrid where he arrived at 13, Luka Doncic returns to his adopted land this evening as his Mavericks face the European champion (at 8:45 p.m., on BeIN Sports 1).
Center of attention of all the media, Doncic obviously answered questions about a possible return to Real. “If one day I come back to Europe, I will definitely come back to Madrid. It’s 100% safe” warns the Slovenian. “But I don’t know what the future holds for me. But if I come back, it will be to Real Madrid. »
Luka Doncic regrets the Spanish ham…
It was there that he learned everything about “ talk, study and play basketball“, and he does not hide that he would have liked to bring a few teammates and staff members to the Mavericks. “Rudy [Fernandez], [Sergio] Llull, a trainer, a physiotherapist… But what is certain is that I will take ham” laughs Doncic, before mentioning Pablo Laso, who left for Bayern. “He was my first coach, he gave me a lot. Today he got an opportunity at Bayern. He’s gone, that’s how it is, but I know he is very loved in Madrid. He gave a lot to this club and they will surely miss him.”
Unsurprisingly, Doncic was asked about the difference in NBA and European basketball. “It’s a very different type of basketball. Ultimately, the field is wider and the 3-point line is further away. In Europe, we play more as a team, that is to say that with fewer minutes, we play more as a team. Each system is very important. There is not so much action in the NBA, and therefore the collective is the most important [en Europe] “.
A few hours away from finding his old audience, does he still have a dream? “I hope to play at Bernabeu (Real’s football stadium) one day. Maybe the NBA will bring us back to Madrid…”
