“He plays like he’s 35”

Last weekend, in the friendly match held in honour of Goran Dragic’s career in Ljubljana Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic They crossed paths again.

First Dirk and now Luka. The German and the Slovenian are undoubtedly the most important players in the history of the national team. Dallas Mavericks And they, fortunately or unfortunately, only coincided for one season in the Texans. However, for the German, that year was enough to realize that Doncic was destined to make franchise history.

During the press conference after last weekend’s friendly in Slovenia, the German icon, creator of the Texans’ only NBA title, spoke about his one-year stint with Doncic, and did not hesitate to praise the current Dallas Mavericks player, who saw what he was capable of “from the first training session”:

“The transition was very smooth for him. I played with him for a year, last year. We didn’t know how good he was. He was the best player in the EuroLeague, but that didn’t mean anything when he got to the EuroLeague.” NBA “From the first practice I saw how he felt the game and his readings. His passing and scoring ability was from another planet.”Dirk revealed. “It was a pleasure to be there his first year, maybe to help him a little bit with some things.”He confirmed.

In addition to talking about his beginnings, Nowitzki also spoke about the evolution of the Slovenian’s game, praising the “intelligence” with which he performs on the court:

“Honestly, if you look at him, he plays like he’s 35 years old.”Dirk hung between laughs. “He’s very smart, very smart, and he has an unbelievable basketball IQ. What he sees on the court, I’ve never seen, so it’s not like I can tell him to pass it over there. He knows better.”He said.

Furthermore, the 46-year-old Mavericks icon also confirmed that he and the current Slovenian star “talk a lot” about basketball, describing Doncic’s performance so far as, “Greatness is witness”.

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