Almost everyone in the world must have at least heard about Luka Doncic, but outside of the Balkan region, not many people know about his father Sasa. He is an interesting person in basketball, and in this article, I'll provide 5 things you probably didn't know about him.
Luka Doncic is one of the most liked players in the world, and he is for a reason. Slovenian superstar is a name on everyone's tongue ever since he started tearing apart defenses in the EuroLeague with Real Madrid.
However, outside of the Balkan region, few people know about his father Sasa Doncic, who is also influential in basketball. In this article, I will provide five things about Luka Doncic's dad that you probably didn't know before.
1. Sasa Doncic is a famous basketball personality
Sasa Doncic was born on June 14, 1974, in Sempeter, a town near the Italian border in Slovenia. He is 6 ft 7.5 in (202 cm) tall, slightly taller than Luka.
During his career, Sasa played as a swingman, alternating between shooting guard and small forward positions. He mostly played in Slovenia, with a few international seasons in Serbia and France.
Luka Doncic's dad also worked with some Slovenian clubs as a head coach, most recently with Ilirija in 2022. Nowadays, Sasa comments on basketball games on Slovenian streaming networks.
He was married to a Slovenian model and Luka Doncic's mom Mirjam Poterbin until 2008 when they divorced. Luka was 9 years old then.
2. He played basketball for 17 years
Sasa Doncic played professional basketball for 17 years between 1993 and 2010, spending sixteen of them in Slovenia. In the 2002-03 campaign, he started with Serbian team Sloga, finishing the year with French club Evreux before returning to his homeland.
Sasa has won two Slovenian Leagues in a row with different teams, Domzale and Union Olimpija, three Slovenian Cups with Zlatorog Lasko and the aforementioned Domzale and Olimpija, and the Slovenian Supercup. He was called up six times as an All-Star of Slovenia's Championship.
As a coach, Sasa won Slovenia's second tier twice with Ilirija.
3. Sasa is a native of Serbia
It is known that Luka Doncic plays for Slovenia, but it's not very well known in public that he could've been part of Serbia's squad, and just imagine that partnership with Nikola Jokic.
Sasa Doncic is a native of Serbia, as his mother and sister even live there. Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed this last year when Luka paid for the funerals of victims of the Belgrade shooting that occurred last year.
Luka was born and raised in Slovenia and had no doubts about who he would play for, but it's not forbidden to imagine how stacked Serbia would be with him in the squad.
4. He and Luka are loyal supporters of Crvena Zvezda
Sasa and Luka Doncic were never hiding that they were loyal supporters of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade.
In fact, Sasa is a die-hard Zvezda fan, declaring this multiple times in live broadcasts and regularly visiting the stands to watch Zvezda's games.
He also confirmed that his son followed that path and supported the Serbian powerhouse: "Luka is watching all the games of Crvena Zvezda that he possibly can. I don't know if he is practicing now, but if he's not, he's definitely going to watch," Sasa stated for Mondo before Zvezda played against Bayern Munich last year in the EuroLeague.
5. People say Luka Doncic's dad looks like Mr Incredible
This is kind of off-topic, but the resemblance is uncanny. You may have noticed the memes around the Internet, but if not, you will see what Sasa Doncic looks like.
Apparently, many people share the same opinion that Mr Incredible from The Incredibles looks like a long-lost twin brother of Sasa.
And honestly, it's hard not to notice that Luka Doncic's dad looked like an inspiration for The Incredibles creators to implement the main character of the show.
The "incredible" adjective seems to be a must when you mention someone whose last name is Doncic.
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