Bulls guard Dragic has experienced two generations of Doncic family
Early in his professional career, Bulls guard Goran Dragic had a teammate who always brought his five-year-old son to the gym. The kid was constantly dribbling a ball, watching the players, helping wipe up the court if needed.
The kid's name was Luka Doncic and his father Sasa played with Dragic on the club team Slovan in Lubljana, Slovenia from 2004-06.
"His dad was my mentor, so we go way back," Dragic said Friday at the Advocate Center. "It's nice to play with him, but it's not good when you play against him."
That last part will be unavoidable Saturday, because Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks will face the Bulls at the United Center. Dragic is actually older now (36) than Sasa Doncic was back in their Slovan days.
What kind of teammate was Sasa Doncic?
"Goofy. He likes to joke around, like Luka," Dragic said. "Luka is a copy of his dad.
"(Sasa) played position four (power forward), so it was a little bit different. But same size, good shot, he can put the ball on the floor. Maybe he didn't have the vision that Luka has, but still a good player."
Dallas had a 13-11 record heading into Friday's home game against Milwaukee, so maybe the Mavericks are still adjusting to the loss of former Stevenson standout Jalen Brunson, who joined the Knicks as a free agent. But Doncic hasn't slowed down at all. He's the NBA's leading scorer at 32.9 point per game, while also averaging 8.6 rebounds and 8.7 assists.
Dragic and the younger Doncic became a dynamic duo when they combined to lead Slovenia to the European championship in 2017. Dragic was named most valuable player of the tournament, while Doncic, then 18, had yet to make his NBA debut.
"That was unbelievable, was the highlight of our careers," Dragic said. "The first gold medal for our country in a team sport in our history. If you guys follow European basketball, that was a big surprise. Nobody thought of us as the favorites, but we managed to win all nine games and it was awesome.
"We still have a good national team. We lost against Poland (last summer) but I'm looking forward to this summer for World Cup."
Dragic said he'd like to play for Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup next summer, but it will depend on how healthy he feels when this season ends.
These days, Dragic is paying it forward as the oldest player on the Bulls, guiding younger teammates like Sasa Doncic did for him years ago. Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu gave Dragic high marks for his mentorship.
"He's a great mentor because from Day 1, he always made himself available to talk," Dosunmu said. "I think that's very crucial for a young guy with a veteran, making yourself available to talk, receive messages. He always did a great job with that."
Last week, Bulls coach Billy Donovan made a change to the starting lineup, which put Dosunmu and Dragic together on the second unit, while Alex Caruso and Javonte Green became starters. Green missed the next two games with knee soreness, which pushed Patrick Williams back to the first team.
But the intended starting lineup may return against Dallas. Donovan said Green participated in practice Friday and he's hoping to play Saturday.
Doncic is averaging 37 minutes per game, so he's likely to match up against Dragic at some point, barring an injury.
"It is a surprise, if I look back to see that five-year-old kid to become one of the best players on the planet," Dragic said. "He's got really basketball IQ and just in general, people don't realize how big he is (6-feet-7). He's smart, he can manipulate the game, he's got good shot selection.
"If you want to take away his shots, he's going to find a way to affect the game with assists. So he's just an all-around player and he's really tough to stop."
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