Luka Dončić

Luka Dončić
No. 7 – Real Madrid
Position Point guard / Shooting guard
League Liga ACB
Euroleague
Personal information
Born (1999-02-28) February 28, 1999
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Nationality Slovenian
Listed height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
Playing career 2014–present
Career history
2014–present Real Madrid
2014–2015 → Real Madrid B
Career highlights and awards

Luka Dončić (born February 28, 1999) is a Slovenian professional basketball player who plays for Real Madrid of the Liga ACB and Euroleague.

He is considered one of the most promising young talents of European basketball and one of the best international players of his generation.[1][2]

Player profile

Dončić can dominate players which are older than him, and his combination of skills, athleticism, basketball intelligence and competitiveness are hard to find. He brings unique versatility as he can dribble with both hands, rebound, shoot with range, pass or score in a variety of ways. He can play both as a point guard and shooting guard.[2] In terms of precocity, his impact is similar to the one caused by Ricky Rubio.[3]

Basketball career

Early years

Dončić started his career at the youth teams of Union Olimpija. On April 2012, he won the MVP in the U-13 Lido di Roma Tournament, scoring 54 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the final against Lazio.[4]

On September 2012, at 13 years of age, he signed a 5-year contract with Real Madrid.[5] Previously, on february 2012, Dončić had played with Real Madrid the Minicopa ACB 2012, on loan from Union Olimpija. In the final, he scored 20 points against FC Barcelona.[6]

After outstanding performances in his seasons in the U-16 team, Dončić plays for the Under-18 team and Real Madrid B for the 2014–15 season, where he becomes one of the leaders of the team, averaging 14.5 points and 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists, for achieving the first position of the 2014–15 Liga EBA Group B.

On 2015, he won the Ciutat de L'Hospitalet Tournament and was selected in the All-Tournament Team despite being two years younger than the rest of the team.[7] In May 2015, he also won the Next Generation Tournament, where he was selected MVP after beating defending champion Crvena Zvezda in the final.[8]

Real Madrid

On April 30, 2015, Dončić became the youngest player to debut with Real Madrid in the Liga ACB, aged 16, 2 months and 2 days. He scored a three-pointer in Real Madrid's win against Unicaja. In the history of the competition, he is the third youngest player to make the debut, behind Ricky Rubio (14 years and 11 months) and Ángel Rebolo (15 years and 3 months).[9] He also participated at the 2015 ACB Playoffs and the 2015 FIBA Intercontinental Cup.

2015/2016

In the 2015/16 season, he becomes a part of 12-men roster that plays for Real Madrid in every competition, including Liga ACB (being the youngest player of the league)[10] and Euroleague 2015-16. On week 8, against Bilbao Basket, he set his personal best in: points (15), rebounds (6), assists (4) and PIR (22), setting the records in scoring and PIR for a player aged under 17 in the history of Liga ACB.[11]

Slovenian national team

He was due to play at the 2014 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship but had to withdraw with an injury. In December 2014, he played with the Slovenia national under-16 team in a friendly tournament in Hungary. Dončić averaged 35.3 points, 7.6 rebounds while shooting 81% from two-point range and 57% on three-pointers.[7]

Trophies and awards

Real Madrid

Real Madrid (youth teams)

Individual awards

Personal life

His father is Saša Dončić, former Slovenian basketball player of Serbian origin who also played for the Slovenia national basketball team, and his mother is Mirjam Poterbin, Slovenian former model and dancer who was world champion of dance with Urška dance group. Luka Dončić started playing basketball, soccer and judo at the age of 6 in the Miran Jarc primary school, in Ljubljana. Later, he decided to focus on basketball and joined the youth teams of Union Olimpija.[14]

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, March 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.