Sports Nicknames - The Don, El Matador

Is there a more famous Slovenian than Luka Doncic at the moment? The young guard who plays for the Dallas Mavericks was named Rookie of the Year for his debut season in 2019-20 and made an immediate impact on his team.



Luka Doncic started playing for his hometown club of Union Olimpija. However, this would only last for a short while before he moved to Spain with Real Madrid. Yes, you read that correctly. Real Madrid, known for the football it produces, also has a basketball team that Doncic played for as a youth.

In 2017-18, Doncic was named as the MVP of the Season for Real Madrid at only 18. This led to him signing up for the NBA draft, where he was traded to the Mavs after being picked by the Atlanta Hawks.

While Doncic was unable to help the Mavs to playoff appearance in his first season, he was the first teenager in NBA history with a 30-point triple-double and multiple triple-doubles. He was once referred to as "El Matador" by one of the Mavs backroom coaches, and the nickname has stuck around, with the team even filing trademarks for the nickname.

Doncic didn't slow down in his second season, being named to the All-Star team and finished 4th in the MVP voting. All the while, he helped the Mavs to a play-off spot, losing to the LA Clippers in 6 games.

Doncic, amazingly, is only 22 at the time of writing this article. He has shattered record after record for his scoring and assisting, which only seems to indicate him going even further to the top.



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