Basketball: Nowitzki’s successor comes to Germany: Doncic delighted

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Nowitzki’s successor comes to Germany: Doncic delighted

Slovenia’s basketball star Luka Doncic celebrates. photo

© Eric Gay/AP/dpa

A top star makes a stop in Germany: Luka Doncic and his Slovenians are guests in Munich on Sunday. Doncic is not only Nowitzki’s successor in Dallas, but also a good friend of the German.

Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, who could also be father and son, played together for a year with the Dallas Mavericks. But that was enough to create a connection between the old and the new club hero of the Texans that has endured to this day.

When Nowitzki, now 44, was with his family-in-law in Sweden in June, he insisted on watching the 23-year-old basketball star Doncic live in the World Cup qualifiers. And when the Swedes’ audience roared “overrated” (overrated), Nowitzki immediately joined in – and laughed his head off.

There will be more matches in the next few weeks because Doncic has arrived in Germany. Before the European Championship – where Nowitzki is an ambassador – starts with games in Cologne and Berlin on Thursday, there is still a direct duel in the World Cup qualification on Sunday (3 p.m. / Magentasport). Germany can almost get the ticket for 2023 with a win. Doncic needs to lead Slovenia to another win as he is unavailable in the November and February qualifying windows due to the NBA calendar.

Nowitzki: “Doncic just a ripped off boy”

Nowitzki is impressed by his successor. “He’s just a ripped off boy. It’s amazing how he does it all, with the fame and hype surrounding his young person. On the field, he’s unbelievable how he already reads the game,” said the Würzburger of the German press Agency. Nowitzki is an advisor to the Mavericks and regularly sees his ex-club’s matches, in which Doncic is now just the outstanding figure that Nowitzki used to be.

Doncic himself was the center of attention early on. At 16 he played for Real Madrid, at 18 he was already playing a leading role with Slovenia and became a European champion at 19 when he joined the NBA. Nothing came too early for the defensive player with a safe shot from distance and a robust physique, Doncic was always ahead of his peers of the same age. Today he is one of the best basketball players in the world. He says confidently about his goals at the European Championships: “We’re going to Germany to win gold. It doesn’t matter where we compete, first place is always our goal.”

Players like Doncic, the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) or the Serbian Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets) will be an attraction for the European Championship. But the Germans first have to get past such stars in order to be able to achieve their self-imposed goal of a medal. Even Nowitzki, who knows Doncic very well, cannot contribute much when it comes to advice against the star player. “Everyone in the NBA knows their game and yet it’s almost impossible to stop him because he’s so good and has the body to do it. I don’t really know if my tips have any effect,” said the ex-professional.

dpa

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