Dallas Basketball

Mavs’ Luka Embraces Slovenia Team Captain Responsibility: ‘I Have to Stay Calm’

To make a run at the FIBA World Cup, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team must 'stay calm' in crunch time … and with the officials.

Michael Mulford

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For a lot of professional basketball players, their ultimate goal was to make it to the NBA. But, for internationally born players, representing their country and playing for their national team is the ultimate honor.

As for Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, this go around playing for his country of Slovenia is a little different than in previous years.

Coming into the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Slovenia is without both Doncic’s friend and mentor Goran Dragic and former captain Edo Muric, who suffered an ACL tear in his right knee in June. The omissions of Dragic and Muric rightfully placed the captain duties for Slovenia in the hands of Doncic, which the superstar called an honor and “a proud moment.”

But, with being named captain comes more responsibility as a leader, and for Doncic, he knows where both he and the team need to improve.

"With this role as captain, I have an even bigger responsibility, the boys have to connect (with me)," Doncic said after Slovenia's win over Venezuela on Saturday. "One thing we have to do better is stay calm, especially me, because I know the boys will follow me."

That is spoken like a player who is becoming more and more comfortable stepping into the leader role for his team and his country, and it should continue to translate to the Mavericks. 

Staying calm for Doncic and the Slovenian National team is two fold: staying calm and poise down the stretch of games, but also remaining cool, calm, and collected with the officials. Doncic has the poise down at the end of games on lock, but staying calm with the officials? That’s a flaw that the Mavs superstar is trying to overcome. 

Last season, Doncic was tied for the third-most technical fouls throughout the league with 17. During the 2021-22 season, Doncic ranked second with 18 techs. 

Simply put, Doncic is incredibly passionate and just cares that much about winning. Does he complain over just about every call that doesn’t go his way? Sure, but it’s out of his love for the game and his ultimate desire to win. 

But to win, especially at the highest level, Doncic knows that dialing back any negative emotion towards the officials is the path to continued growth moving forward. 

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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