Before becoming an NBA superstar, Luka Doncic spent three full seasons playing EuroLeague basketball with Real Madrid, experiencing some of the loudest and most hostile environments in European basketball.
Speaking to SLAM, Doncic immediately named Crvena Zvezda when asked about the most intimidating crowd he had faced. However, his personal connection with the Serbian club made his visits to Belgrade somewhat different.
“I would probably say Red Star, but not for me. They liked me there, so not for me.”
Doncic silenced Belgrade with a clutch three
One of his most memorable moments came in March 2018, when the young Real Madrid guard silenced the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall with a deep step-back three that gave Madrid an 82-79 victory with just 0.9 seconds remaining.
“That was before the Final Four, so it was a nice move. It’s very hard to play in that gym.”
As a Red Star supporter himself, Doncic admitted that the decisive shot produced mixed emotions.
“I’m also a fan of that team, so I was kind of wondering whether I should celebrate or not. I didn’t really celebrate, but it was a nice moment.”
“We started 0-20 at Panathinaikos”
Athens also provided Doncic with a lasting EuroLeague memory. In Game 1 of the 2018 EuroLeague playoffs, Panathinaikos defeated Real Madrid by a large margin in front of a packed OAKA.
“I also played at Panathinaikos. We played in the quarterfinals and started the game down 0-20, so it was really loud out there.”
“Where did they dislike me the most? Probably a lot of places”
When asked where fans disliked him the most, Doncic initially laughed:
“Probably a lot of them.”
He then named the most obvious destination for a Real Madrid player:
“Barcelona. Rivals.”
Commenta
Visualizza commenti