Luka Doncic: Basketball’s Rising Star | DW 2025

If you want to defeat the Slovenian national basketball team, you have to get a grip on Luka Doncic in particular. This is also known by the German internationals who meet the Eurobasket on Slovenia and Doncic on Wednesday evening.

“You can’t stop him. You have to find ways to beat the team,” said Germany’s construction player Maodo Lo. “We will see how much we can narrow it down. We will already have a few ideas,” announced interim chief alan Ibrahimagic. “But we also don’t play against Luka Doncic, but against Slovenia.”

The Los Angeles Lakers playmaker from the NBA is the heart and head of the Slovenian team. In the round of 16, he contributed 42 points and ten rebounds to the 84: 77 success against Italy. The 26-year-old plays an outstanding tournament and stands on average at 34.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.2 templates and 3.2 steals per game-all top ten values ​​in tournament statistics.

Real-Wunderkind und NBA Rookie of the Year

The basketball talent was already in the cradle: father Sasa Doncic was also a Slovenian international, the son played in the U14 team of Real Madrid at the age of twelve. At 15, he made his debut for the “royal” in the Spanish league and in the European Cup and became more and more important for Real in the years after.

If you want to know how outstandingly good Doncic was at the age of 19, you only have to look at a numerous highlight videos of the Euroleague final four from 2018 on YouTube.

As a Euroleague winner, MVP [wertvollster Spieler] The season and the Final Four left Doncic Europe in the same year and switched to the best league in the world to the Dallas Mavericks.

In his premiere season, which was the last of Germany’s superstar Dirk Nowitzki, he scored an average of 21.2 points, seven rebounds and six templates per game. Outstanding values ​​that gave him the award as NBA Rookie of the Year.

After seven years and 450 games in the NBA, he is 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 templates per game. Over 80 times, he managed a triple double, i.e. double-digit values ​​in three categories, a feat that most NBA players only succeed in their entire career a few times.

Offensively complete, weaknesses on the defensive

Doncic is admired for his ball art, its throwing strength from a distance and the ability to prevail against several opponents on the train to the basket – often accompanied by a shrug and grinning grin, as if he wanted to say: “No idea how I got it back.” He is a complete player who only has an offensive air out of the free throw.

On the other hand, there are weaknesses on the defensive that he has less desire to do than the game on the opposing basket. This is associated with a discussion about his fitness state through his entire NBA career. Doncic does not work trained at 1.98 meters with 104 kilograms to 1.98 meters, as the NBA officially states.

Where other NBA players are stacking muscle packages, the Slovenian still carries “baby bacon” with him even at the age of 26, which apparently makes it difficult for him to get back into his own defense. “It is really difficult to always go full throttle on both sides of the field,” he said two years ago.

In addition, Doncic polarizes and often brings the opponent and his fans with his behavior on the field to white glow. He loves to complain with the referees. Hardly any action ends without discussion about alleged fouls or missed free throws. He once said self -critically: “I complain far too much.” However, he obviously cannot turn off this bad.

In the footsteps of Dirk Nowitzki

“He is a really nice guy with a big heart. He looks very ripe on the square, as he plays and how he reads the game,” said Dirk Nowitzki about Doncic. “It’s fantastic and astonishing what he is doing.”

For a long time it looked like Doncic was being the legitimate successor Nowitzkis in Dallas. The German had spent his entire career at the MAVs from 1998 to 2019 and led them to the first championship in 2011. Doncic was also trusted. In 2024 he and the MAVs only failed in the final on the Boston Celtics. The grip for the title seemed only a matter of time.

However, the club had other things in mind: In February 2025, Doncic was surprisingly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a complex three-team exchange. Apparently the management of the MAVS with Doncics was dissatisfied and wanted to get rid of the Slovenes before his next contract extension was due. In the summer of 2025 he could have signed a so-called Supermax contract, which would have brought him 345 million US dollars by 2030.

Trade to the Lakers as a deep cut

The exchange was irritated by many fans as the “worst trade in the world”. Other NBA stars such as Joel Embbiid, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker were stunned by the fact that the Mavericks made the player to build up the entire team around.

“Everything is even crazy than before. If someone can be traded, nobody is sure anymore,” said Dennis Schröder at the time and also called the trade system of the NBA a “shitty business” and “modern slavery”.

“Everyone can decide where you go, even if you have a contract. Of course we earn a lot of money and can feed our families, but if they say: ‘You can’t get to work tomorrow, you go somewhere else’, then you can decide,” said Schröder.

For Doncic, the involuntary change was a violent personal cut. According to reports, he is said to have thrown away his cell phone when he received the news. He was only informed when the deal was decided.

The deep emotional connection to “his Mavericks” also showed two months later when he returned to Dallas. Before the guest appearance of the Lakers, the Mavericks honored their ex-star with a video that Doncic brought the tears into the eyes.

However, all emotion did not stop him from pouring in his ex-club 45 points in the 112: 97 victory of the Lakers.

Restart with the Lakers, before that EM title?

In the meantime, however, the Slovenian has come to terms with the new situation and signed a new three -year contract for $ 165 million at the Lakers.

“Today I feel much better. I’m just very happy to be here,” said Doncic after his signature. “This is the Lakers organization – one of the best teams in history.”

The fact that he is also motivated in sports shows that he worked intensively on his condition and athletics in summer. “I will obviously be a little faster next season,” he joked last at a press conference.

The Slovenian national basketball team should initially benefit from the better fitness. With her, Doncic wants to win the European Championship for the second time after 2017. To do this, the world champion from Germany must first be defeated, who also reduced Doncic respect. “They play incredible,” he said. “We actually have to play a perfect game to beat her.”

The Germans and their coach Alan Ibrahimagic are warned, but are also expecting good chances against a perfect Doncic. “No matter how outstanding it is: He too cannot defeat a team alone.”

This portrait of Luka Doncic of September 7, 2022 was brought up to date on September 9, 2025.