At just 13 years old, Luka Doncic made a life-altering decision — one that most teenagers wouldn’t dare to imagine. Leaving behind his home in Slovenia, his family, his language, and everything familiar, Doncic embarked on a journey that would shape him into the global superstar he is today.
On a recent episode of Mind The Game, the Los Angeles Lakers star opened up candidly about the early days of his transition to Real Madrid’s famed youth basketball program, revealing the loneliness, the culture shock, and the total immersion into a world far beyond his years.
"I mean, it was a difficult decision, honestly. First, I didn't know the language yet. I knew a little bit, just like, hello, how are you? But then nobody spoke my language. I was learning a little bit of English, so I knew a little bit. But it was hard."
"So that's basically when almost everything moved to basketball. I was playing a little bit of soccer because I used to go with the players that were there, soccer players. We went to the same school, so we used to play a little bit. They were soccer players, so I couldn't do nothing. But it was a lot."
"I think the first two, three months, I almost didn't speak to anybody. But that's how I learned Spanish so quickly. And after that, it was an amazing journey, man. It was something that changed my life for better."
"Six years... It was a dorm. My first three years, they were building a new dorm. We were in the dorm of the school. So it was three people per room. It was very small. Don't speak Spanish."
"I had a Brazilian guy, I think. I can't remember. I can't remember who I was with, because we always changed. But first, it was school. So first three years. But then we went to a nice, then Real Madrid built its own dorm. It was super nice. It was like living in a hotel.
"Yeah, we started at 7:30, something like that. To 8:30, we had practice. And then from 9:15 to 5:30 was school. And then from 6:00 to 9:00 was practice. On Wednesday, we didn't have practice. But every other day. And then Saturday, Sunday, games."
Thrown into an environment where Spanish was dominant and English was barely spoken, Luka quickly realized that communication was going to be his first battle. With his grasp on English still in its infancy and zero familiarity with Spanish, the isolation hit hard. For the first two or three months, he barely spoke to anyone.
The homesickness was real, but so was the fire inside him. His escape? Basketball.
In his first three years at Real Madrid, Luka lived in a cramped dorm at a school nearby while the club built its new residence. Eventually, Real Madrid’s custom-built dormitory opened, and life became a little more comfortable. Luka described it as “like living in a hotel”, a far cry from his early dorm struggles. Still, the daily grind was relentless.
It was a seven-day-a-week commitment, driven by sacrifice and belief. Few could handle such a schedule at 13, let alone in a foreign country. But Luka Doncic wasn’t just any teenager. That lonely kid in Madrid speaking little Spanish, living in dorms, juggling elite sports and school, would become a European sensation and eventually an NBA megastar.
By age 16, he made his professional debut with Real Madrid’s senior team, becoming the youngest in the club’s history to do so. What followed was nothing short of spectacular.
He helped Real Madrid win the 2018 EuroLeague title, earning EuroLeague MVP, Final Four MVP, and All-EuroLeague First Team honors in the same season, all before turning 20. He also won multiple Liga ACB championships and was named ACB MVP in 2018.
By the time he arrived in the NBA in 2018, Luka wasn’t just a hyped prospect, he was already a European legend. The boy who once sat silently in a dorm room in Madrid had become the most accomplished teenage player in European basketball history.
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