LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – The laughter of students at recess and basketballs bouncing off the sidewalk echoed through the quiet streets of a residential neighborhood in Slovenia’s capital, where Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic got his start.
O phenomenon point guard led his franchise to only its third appearance in the NBA Finals, where the Lost Mavericks the opening game for the Boston Celtics, despite Doncic’s 30 points. Game 2 is Sunday night.
At 25 years old, he has already accumulated a series of accolades that put him on track to be one of the greatest Europeans – or any other – to play this game.
But his path to a chance at an NBA championship began two decades and 5,000 miles away from the bright lights of Dallas, at Miran Jarc Elementary School in Ljubljana, a city of about 300,000 nestled in a green valley of the Slovenian Alps.
“My first impression was that he was taller than all the guys his age and actually moved the ball really well. You could feel he was really talented,” said Rok Dezman, who coached Doncic in high school since he was 6 years old.
Doncic’s precocity on the court was evident from the first grade, Dezman said, so he immediately began competing with players several years older than him to level the playing field.
But that age disparity meant that Doncic, now 7 feet tall, didn’t always have a height advantage, which led him to focus on hitting shots from distance rather than taking on bigger players under the rim. .
Still, Dezman said, Doncic looked for ways to overcome his age and size disadvantage.
“He took it as a challenge every time he dealt with older guys,” Dezman said. “He was trying to find a way to finish in the paint as well. Size didn’t matter to him.”
Hanging on the wall inside the school is a printed photo of Doncic with a quote attributed to him: “I never dreamed of success. I worked for it.”
According to Uros Rozman, Doncic’s gymnastics teacher at Miran Jarc from fourth to seventh grade, this inspirational slogan truly reflects the tenacity Doncic has always shown to improve his game.
“Talent is important, but when you grow up and play with adults, talent is not enough. You have to work hard, and he already worked hard at our school,” said Rozman, who is now the school’s principal. “The basketball was in his hands the whole time.”
Shortly after starting to play for his primary school team, Doncic joined the Union Olimpija club’s youth league in Ljubljana, where he continued to train with players several years his senior. After finishing seventh grade, he left the country and his family to play for Real Madrid’s youth academy in Spain.
Just five years later, he would be drafted into the NBA.
The repercussions of Doncic’s success are felt by every student at Miran Jarc, said Aleksandar Drobnjak, a ninth-grader at the school who plays for the same youth team, Olimpija, that Doncic played for when he was young.
Drobnjak said attending Doncic’s alma mater is “an honor and a pleasure” and that he and other students have been inspired by his work ethic.
“Every student at this school knows that Luka Doncic studied at our school and is now a world-famous basketball star,” he said. “If we can do the same thing as him, we can be famous like him. With a lot of work, with focus, with listening, with honor.”
On the court, Doncic displays an arrogance and confidence that is not typical of most European players, and is known for venting his emotions during games, both to referees and opponents.
According to Dezman, Doncic’s first coach, it’s a competitiveness he’s demonstrated since his early days in the gym at his primary school in Ljubljana.
“He’s still the same guy. The main thing about Luka is that he lives basketball,” said Dezman. “He is a born winner. He has to win.”
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This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
