Before he was an NBA superstar, Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic truly made a name for himself as a basketball player suiting up for the storied Spanish basketball club Real Madrid as a teenager. Doncic may have only seven NBA campaigns under his belt, but he played professional basketball long before he made his debut in the league.
Doncic left the door open for the possibility that he plays for Real Madrid once again later in his career with some recent comments he made, too. He said that the idea of finishing up his stint playing basketball with the club has emotional appeal to him.
“For sure,” Doncic told the Wall Street Journal. “They raised me.”
Doncic spent several years with Real Madrid in total and joined the team when he was quite the spring chicken at just 13 years old in 2012. He didn’t make his debut with the seniors until a bout in April of 2015, however. Doncic made history with his debut and became the youngest person to make his league debut in the long history of the club.
The Slovenian last played for Real Madrid back in the 2017-18 campaign, and he helped the club win the EuroCup that season. Doncic was also crowned the MVP of the EuroLeague.
But Doncic had more MVP awards up his sleeve in that very same year, as he also took home ACB MVP honors.
By the end of his stint with Real Madrid, Doncic had staked his claim as arguably the best professional player on the continent of Europe, and not long after his swan song with the club, he was drafted with a top-three pick in the 2018 NBA Draft.
While Doncic playing for Real Madrid again before he retired would make for a storybook ending to his professional basketball journey, Lakers fans are hoping he won’t depart Los Angeles anytime soon.
Doncic just signed a lengthy contract extension with the Lakers not too long ago, so fans of the team shouldn’t be overly worried right now. By all accounts, the 26-year-old is in just the beginning stages of his Lakers tenure, as he hasn’t even played a full season with the squad yet.
