By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid will welcome back one of its favorite sons for an exhibition game as former EuroLeague MVP Luka Doncic leads the Dallas Mavericks into the Spanish capital. The game, set for Tuesday, October 10th, will be the first meeting between teams from the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the NBA since 2016.
Doncic spent his formative years with Los Blancos. He was 13 years old when Real Madrid signed him for the youth categories, and made his senior debut at the age of 16. Doncic led Real to the Adidas Next Generation Tournament championship in 2015 as the tournament MVP and, before long, was collecting trophies with the senior squad.
Over the next three years, Doncic’s flame burned brightly as he was twice named the EuroLeague Rising Star, and in 2018, he became the EuroLeague MVP and Final Four MVP after leading the club to its 10th continental championship. He also pocketed three Spanish League crowns with Real and was chosen as the 2018 Spanish League MVP.
During his time in Madrid, Doncic played alongside current Real stars such as Facundo Campazzo, Fabien Causeur, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, Sergio Rodriguez, and Walter Tavares. He played under head coach Chus Mateo, who was an assistant in those years.
There is a long history of games between teams from the world’s top two basketball competitions, dating back to when FC Barcelona welcomed the Memphis Grizzlies in October 2003. Real Madrid has faced NBA teams eight times, with the most recent being a 142-137 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in October 2016.