Luka Dončić, one of the hottest NBA basketball players at the moment, finally got his anthem! After paying tribute to basketball player Goran Dragić – Dragon, the Slovenian actor Klemen Slakonja decided to honor the 20-year-old basketball prodigy. The actor, whose impersonations have more than 70 millions views on YouTube, gathered a team of 50 professionals who worked tirelessly over the course of 3 days. The song follows Dončić’s beginnings at Union Olimpija, his time playing for Real Madrid, and Dončić’s meteoric ascent to NBA stardom. Together with the song, Slakonja filmed a music video that also features spectacular tricks by world-famous acrobats Dunking Devils, who were thrilled to join the project. The music video, which captures all major moments in Luka’s life, is full of details that his biggest fans will surely appreciate.
These days it seems that all anybody talks about is Luka Dončić – and rightfully so. At merely 20 years, the Slovenian talent already looks like one of the best players in the NBA. Recently named Western Conference Player of the Month, Luka Dončić is the youngest player in NBA history with 3 straight 30-10 games as well as the first player to break Michael Jordan’s record for the most consecutive 20-5-5 games. Of course, these are just a few of his most recent achievements; the basketball prodigy is also the youngest player to ever win the EuroLeague MVP award, and many argue Dončić could very well become the youngest MVP in NBA history. Slovenian wonder boy’s historical statistical outputs and spectacular performance on the basketball court continue to astound basketball fans around the world, including Slovenian actor Klemen Slakonja and world-famous acrobatic basketball team Dunking Devils.
Klemen Slakonja, an actor, impersonator, singer, and very successful YouTuber whose videos have amassed more than 70 million views, has been Dončić’s fan ever since the Slovenian basketball talent transferred to Real Madrid at 13. He had long wanted to record an anthem in Dončić’s honor – a wish he finally turned into reality. For this project, Slakonja gathered a team of 50 professionals, including Dunking Devils, a world-famous acrobatic basketball team with more than 2,000 shows in 49 countries under their belts. In the video, they perform breathtaking acrobatic stunts dressed in Dončić’s jersey.
The video, which premiered on YouTube today, was directed by talented Miha Knific who has worked with Slakonja on many successful projects. Knific’s team created all the props – including Dončić’s big hands and the 3D heads of NBA stars LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmp, Stephen Curry, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard. The story closely follows Dončić’s life, starting with his beginnings at Union Olimpija, achievements earned while playing for Real Madrid – including Slovenia’s EuroBasket 2017 title, and Dončić’s meteoric ascent to NBA stardom. In addition to his career achievements, we can also learn many things about his personal life. Namely, about his grandmother’s hair salon, the fact that his mother runs his website www.lukadoncic.com, and that despite his success, Luka is still “a normal kid” who loves playing Fortnite. Whereas most of us will simply enjoy the video for its fine cinematography, fans are in for a treat – the video is littered with so-called Easter eggs.
COMMENTS
Klemen Slakonja, Slovenian actor and imitator
“I’ve been Luka’s fan for many years – I’ve been following him ever since I heard he signed a contract with Real Madrid at only 13. When I first saw him playing, I thought: ‘Wow, this boy will achieve great heights!’ I had long wanted to pay tribute to Dončić with an anthem, but it took me a while to come up with the right concept. I got the idea upon hearing that Dončić would like to be featured in a Drake song, and I thought to myself: ‘I could impersonate Drake and sing him the song myself!’ Aside from that, I also knew Dončić liked to listen to Bad Bunny. When I heard that the Puerto Rican singer performed the entire concert wearing Dončić’s jersey, I knew I had to appear as Bad Bunny too. I really hope Luka likes the final result, and that he’ll maybe even listen to the song before his games. I’d like for him to feel motivated by the lyrics and to feel the energy everyone on the team poured into this project.”
Domen Rozman, Dunking Devils’ manager
Dunking Devils are proud and honored to be a part of such a project. We have been following Luka for many years – we even had the honor of meeting him during one of our performances for Real Madrid. The song and the music video are proof of what can be done when we all work together. Klemen and Miha’s creativity has inspired every single one of us, and we hope that others will be inspired by the song and video as well.”
Miha Knific, director
“We wanted to create a music video similar to American music videos for this genre – and I think we have succeeded. I know it is virtually impossible for the video to have the same impact that Luka has on every single one of us. Maybe – hopefully, the music video will further contribute to his popularity. It was interesting to learn and illustrate his “secrets”. I really had no idea that he’d achieved so many things in his 20 years. I’m glad we fulfilled Luka’s wish to appear in Drake’s music video ;).”
DID YOU CATCH ALL EASTER EGGS?
The video portrays Luka’s life starting with his beginnings at Union Olimpija where he played as a young kid. At 13, he signed a contract with Real Madrid where he stayed for 5 years until he started playing in the NBA in October 2018. In the video, Real Madrid is symbolized by white ballet dancers – due to their white jerseys, the club’s nickname is “white ballet”.
In 2017, he helped guide Slovenia to its first EuroBasket title, an achievement symbolized by the cup at the very beginning. Interesting fact: the cup is not a replica, but the real EuroBasket cup Slovenia won in Turkey. The video also portrays two of his most recent achievements – the Final Four MVP title Dončić earned as the youngest player in EuroLeague, and his breaking Michael Jordan’s record for the most consecutive 20-5-5 games in league history (the scene where he takes down the bull wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey). Video creators also remembered to include the moment every single sports news outlet wrote about – Luka Dončić blocking his idol LeBron James twice in one play!
Throughout the video, we can see Dončić riding a unicorn – a metaphor lost on everyone not familiar with NBA players. The unicorn is, in fact, Kristaps Porzingis, a Latvian basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks, who was nicknamed “unicorn” due to his blend of skills. Together with Dončić, the pair is considered to be one of the best international duos, and the video predicts they will lead the Mavs to become NBA Champions as well as end up being one of the 10 greatest NBA duos of all time.
Aside from his basketball achievements, the video also teaches us a lot about his everyday life. Among other things, we learn that his grandmother owns a hair salon, his mother runs his website www.lukadoncic.com, and that Luka is a massive fan of Fortnite, a popular video game.
Out of all the Easter eggs present in the video, the most genius one is – without a doubt – the goat. The goat stands for the acronym Greatest player Of All Time, a title unofficially attributed to Dirk Nowitzki, one of the greatest power forwards of all time. As Nowitzki has retired from basketball, the video foretells Dončić is now to become the G.O.A.T.
LYRICS – MY NAME IS LUKA
I came from Europe,
to conquer America, for sure.
I come from Europe,
from country sLOVEnia, for sure.
The only country with love in its name, for sure,
that’s why I play with my heart,
that’s why I love this game.
I started playing basketball as a small wonderkid,
from Olimpija Ljubljana to Real Madrid.
People started calling me El Matador,
but I only fight Bulls on the basketball floor.
My name is LUKA.
You wanna play rough?
Say hello to my bazooka!
I’m tough.
Whole night Fortnite,
my name is LUKA.
Look out!
Come on dance with me.
Step back three
from oversea,
victory!
He don’t give up until he DONE – čić
when he turn his magic ON – čić
who can stop him? NO ONE – čić
He’s a PHENOMENON – čić
He don’t give up cause he THE DON – čić
He don’t kill you with a GUN – čić
He kill you with his no-look LUKA pass,
He put you on skates and on your ass.
Luka, I’m DONE – bitch!
The King of the North is gone – čić,
come on bring it on – čić,
I wanna be the one – čić,
to put a ring on – čić.
Did you know my grandma owns a hair salon – čić,
and Mamma Mia runs my website lukadoncic.com – čić,
it’s nice,
like my block on Lebron – čić, twice.
Dejavu – ka,
Out of the blue – ka,
when I give you a cue – ka,
everybody sing Halleluka!
HALLELUKA!
Did I show you my bazooka?
Done!
Full bag of swag,
my name is LUKA.
Come on ref don’t be moron – čić
give me and one – čić.
It’s time for
triple-double,
with no trouble,
MVP!
Él está en mi CORAZÓN – čić
Si no te gusta, eres un CABRÓN – čić
Ver qué magia con BALÓN – čić
Él es un grande CAMPEÓN – čić
No te protege ni un CONDÓN – čić
Él es un Dios, el POSEIDÓN – čić
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
No te mata con el tridente,
pero él te mata con su juego caliente!
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
Grandpa Dirk is not around.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
there’s a new sheriff in town.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
I didn’t shoot no deputy.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
I shoot killer step back three.
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
Bad Bunny, Good Luka yeah, yeah!
LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA, LUKA!
God’s plan, Luka God’s plan!
