Luka Doncic decided to move to the NBA and will play for the Dallas Mavericks next season. The 19-year-old Slovenian was picked by the Atlanta Hawks in number three of the 2018 NBA Draft and was traded to Dallas.
Doncic was unstoppable last season and led Real Madrid to both the Euroleague and the ACB title, while he was named the MVP of the regular season and the Final Four. He also claimed the Rising Star Award for a second straight year.
The European champion wrote a letter, named “Two Dreams”, to thank the “Whites” and their fans. Doncic shared this letter via his social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. Here is what the impressive guard wrote:
“TWO DREAMS
To the fans of Madrid
Playing basketball is my life. My mother always says she doesn’t remember me doing anything else than throwing a basketball.
I don’t remember anything else either.
I feel very lucky. When I was 13 and I came to live in Madrid, I was thinking of fulfilling my dream of being a good basketball player. What I never thought was that this journey was the beginning of a path that would lead me to fulfill not one, but two dreams that only come true in movies: I have been a player of the best club in the world and, now, I will play in the best League of the world.
The good thing about basketball is that it’s one of the sports you’re most dependent on your teammates. And I don’t mean only the extraordinary players that I’ve been lucky enough to share the court with and have allowed me to learn from them as professionals and as people. There are many people in a team. The President, the managers, the coaches, the doctors, the physios, the delegates, the trainers, the club employees… thank you, everyone, thank you, infinite thanks. And, especially to Alberto Angulo, Pablo Sanudo, Dani Sarto, and Paco Redondo, who received a Slovenian child who had no idea of Spanish and took care of me as a child should be taken care of, making me a man. I love you very much.
As I also love Real Madrid, a club that has given me everything: the greatest sports successes, the values that will accompany me all life and the fighting spirit that makes you never give up, no matter the challenge.
I also want to thank the media for treating me with respect when I was a child and for judging me with affection when I became older.
Today, I write this letter to say goodbye especially to you, to the fans who have always supported me, forgiving my mistakes and enjoying my success. The fans who gave me goosebumps during my first standing ovation when I made my first three-pointer as 16 years old and also when I scored my last shot – another three, what a way to close the circle – 350 miles away from what I’ll always consider my home. Thank you so much. I will keep you in my heart.
From now on, there’s one more “Madridista” in Dallas. But as the Terminator said: I’ll be back!”
