Dallas Basketball

Mavs' Doncic: Slovenia, History and The Olympics

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic led Slovenia to an impressive 96-85 victory over a very talented Lithuania team that was spearheaded by NBA big men Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas. The win punched Slovenia's ticket to the Olympics for the first time in the country's history.

Dalton Trigg

It doesn't matter where Luka Doncic is playing basketball, when he's playing basketball, or who he's playing basketball with -- the one thing that stays the same is that Doncic is an other-worldly talent who is capable of raising the playing level of his teammates to new heights.

This was on full display Sunday afternoon, as Doncic led Slovenia to an impressive 96-85 victory over a very talented Lithuania team that was spearheaded by NBA big men Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas. The win punched Slovenia's ticket to the Olympics for the first time in the country's history.

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Doncic finished the game with 31 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, became the first player in history to record a triple-double in an Olympic qualifying game, and won the qualifying tournament MVP. That Doncic was able to put on this kind of performance in front of a raucous Lithuanian crowd made it an even more impressive feat. As amazing at it was to watch, though, maybe we all should've seen this coming, given that one month ago we witnessed Doncic put up 46 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists against the Los Angeles Clippers in a Game 7 on the road.

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"We won here. We're going to the Olympics, the first time in our country('s history)," said Doncic. "It's amazing. I think every kid dreams about being in the Olympics. I did, too. So, here we are. We fought really, really hard, and I think we deserve to be here."

Oh, and remember those rumblings from ESPN's Brian Windhorst suggesting that guys didn't like playing with Doncic? Someone please forward the clip below to Mr. Windhorst's email.

It's yet to be seen just how far this Slovenian national team can go in the Olympics, or if they can potentially compete with the juggernaut that is team USA down the line. But when you have 'Luka Magic' on your roster, anything is possible, and Dallas Mavs fans far and wide will be pulling for him every step of the way in his first Olympic journey, regardless of country affiliation.

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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