The return of the prodigal son: "Doncic in Madrid is like Jordan"
Sometimes it is difficult to understand how a child born in the capital of Slovenia can end up becoming a prodigal son of the city of Madrid, but looking back and remembering what Luka Doncic has achieved and won with the Real shirt, a slight idea of the Mutual affection between the Dallas Mavericks star and the capital of Spain. Tomorrow, the MVP of the Euroleague and the ACB in 2018 returns “home” to face for the first time the team that gave him wings to fly in continental basketball.
«Madrid is my home. “Madrid gave me life and I am very excited to be back,” the Slovenian mentioned in a promotional video.. But today he set foot in the city, walked through the Puerta del Sol, met up with former teammates like Felipe Reyes and Rudy Fernández, spoke with Emilio Butragueño and Isabel Díaz Ayuso and received a first show of devotion from a fan that today will fill the WiZink for that Real Madrid – Dallas Mavericks.
It will be the ninth meeting of an NBA team against Madrid (two Spanish victories) and the first for Doncic since he was chosen in third position in the 2018 draft and decided to jump across the pond to Texas.. He did so as the best player in Europe after elevating Madrid to the continental throne, and with the doubts of North American public opinion about his potential.. “His first step is slow even by European standards, he is not a very good jumper, he has to work on his body, he has lost flexibility, he can lose concentration, he lacks explosiveness…”, said his profile on an expert website before of the draft.
Five years later, the Slovenian returns to WiZink after having been an All-Star four times and a member of the best team of the season, all consecutively starting in his second campaign (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023).. Rookie of the Year in his debut, first and only player in NBA history to achieve a triple-double of 35 points in 25 minutes or less, player with the best score in a playoff debut (42 points), fastest player (194 games) to reach 5,000 points in the NBA and fourth youngest at 22 years and 67 days after LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony…
«Doncic misses Real Madrid a lot. “We arrived here and he is like Michael Jordan, he is very loved,” commented his teammate Maxence-Prosper after the inauguration ceremony of some basketball courts in the Madrid neighborhood of Tetuán.
At the Community headquarters, Doncic received the position of Ambassador of the region. «It is a pride. It's going to be a very special day for me, there will be many emotions. I know what Real Madrid and Madrid mean to me. Thank you all”.