MUNICH (Germany) - Luka Doncic has already become one of the greats on the global basketball landscape. The Slovenian superstar wows fans across the world with his magical playmaking and scoring.
But players who will also be starring at FIBA EuroBasket 2025 also enjoy just watching Luka do his thing.
"Luka is Luka."
FIBA asked a series of stars who will be leading their national teams at the event about Doncic and it's clear that the 2017 champion has fans among his counterparts. They range from Doncic being considered a generational talent, a killer to a magician. It's just Luka being Luka.
Once every 50 years
Mateusz Ponitka got the best of Doncic in Poland's historic 90-87 victory over Slovenia in the Quarter-Finals of the last edition in 2022. Still, Ponitka hails Doncic as a generational talent.
"Doncic is a special player because he has everything. As a basketball player, his IQ, his feel for the game are unbelievable. I was talking to one of my friends and we came to the conclusion that this kind of player is born once every 50 years," said Ponitka, who played against Doncic back in the Slovenian's days at Real Madrid.
"This kind of player is born once every 50 years."
"He’s a very special kid. I remember him when he was growing up in Madrid and we played against each other many times and how he improved and how he developed his game is just amazing and it’s fun to watch. Luka is proving that he's special, he's one of the best players every day, every tournament, every game. it's very simple."
"He can kill anyone"
Bogdan Bogdanovic has gotten to know Doncic during his time in the NBA among the fraction of superstars from the former Yugoslavia. And the Serbian leader pointed out that Doncic is just unstoppable.
"He can kill anyone in a tournament. He can go for 50, 60 ... I don't know. That's what makes him special," Bogdanovic remarked.
We'll say: "I played against him"
Furkan Korkmaz has faced the 26-year-old Doncic a number of years both in the NBA and with the Turkish national team, and the wing thinks it's an honor to have shared the court with him.
"In 10 years we can say: 'Yeah, I played against him.'"
"He's a different guy. He has different skillsets. He has a different mindset. I have played against him a lot and I feel lucky to have played against him," said Korkmaz, who is two years older than Doncic. "Maybe in 10 years we can say: 'Yeah, I played against him. He was this good or that good.' We were lucky to have watched him."
Tip your hat to the magician
One of the things about Doncic is that no one player can stop him. It requires a team effort, and most of the time not even that is enough as Franz Wagner has experienced.
"There are few players in the world as versatile or who can manipulate the game as well as he does offensively. You can't just defend him with one player. You have to switch up the looks that you give him. And also be okay with him making some tough looks.
"Just try to make it hard and play against him one against five. And sometimes be okay and tip your hat with some tough plays," said the German NBA star Wagner.
His German teammate Andreas Obst would love to know what Doncic thinks to makes things look so easy.
"He's a magician in a way. He can score the ball whenever he wants. He can also facilitate, make amazing passes to his teammates. He reads the game amazingly and makes it look so easy.
"It's sometimes interesting to think about what's going on in his mind because it looks so easy. He scores a couple buckets and he has 30 points out of nowhere," said Obst.
Past NBA teammates
Nicolo Melli of Italy is one player who has played with Doncic - as a player with the Dallas Mavericks - and against him - as part of the Italian national team. So he knows both sides of Luka.
"I've been unlucky to play against Luka with the club and the national team. He gave us, gave me a hard time. I think he's special because of his talent. I played with him in Dallas and I have seen him behind the scenes in practice.
"And what happens with those hands, the touch he has. And he's also a great teammate," said Melli, who played with Doncic in Dallas at the end of the 2020-21 season.
"The thing with Luka is what for other players would be unreal, that is routine for him. Being around him you understand what level of talent he's been gifted with. Just every day was a trick shot or something you had never seen before."
"What for other players would be unreal, that is routine for Luka."
Tyler Dorsey is another European star who played with Doncic in Dallas, sharing the court with him briefly during the 2022-23 season and being astounded with the pace with which he plays.
"When I was in Dallas I was able to see it up close and personal. The pace and the way he uses his body is amazing. Those two things are what caught my eye when I was there that makes him very special," said the Greek guard.
Doncic's mind and body control
Sasu Salin faced Doncic in Europe while playing many years in Spain and also has competed with him for the national team. And the sharpshooter from Finland is so impressed with Doncic's body and mind control.
"Luka Doncic is one of a kind. His amazing ability to control his pace on the court. He's not the fastest or the strongest but his mind is working so well that his body is doing exactly what he wants. With the level of his capability, he's just amazing when he's on the court. He's just so skilled," Salin said.
Luka is Luka
When it's all said and done, Latvian point guard Arturs Zagars probably said it best: "Luka is Luka."
FIBA