In June 2018, the Dallas Mavericks had the fifth pick in the NBA draft, which they used to select Oklahoma guard Trae Young.
But they then engineered one of the great sneaky trades in league history, swapping him for Eastern European prodigy Luka Doncic, whom the Atlanta Hawks had just taken with the third pick.
Shortly afterward, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant gave the Slovenian native a piece of advice that surely got him ready for the dog-eat-dog world of the NBA.
He recalled that advice during a recent episode of the podcast “The Old Man & The Three.”
“Just after I was drafted, I think, it was the Nike campus,” said Doncic. “He was there, and the one advice he gave me was, ‘Watch out, they’re going to come after you because you’re from Europe. They’re gonna try and go after you.’ And it was true.”
Historically, European players have faced disrespect upon entering the NBA due to the perceived lesser competition overseas.
But some, most notably Doncic, have proven just as great as their American counterparts.
By his second season, he proved he was one of the best players in the world, averaging nearly a triple double while establishing himself as a clutch performer, not unlike Bryant.
Since Bryant spent some of his childhood in Italy, he was one who could identify with American players doubting whether his skill would translate on American soil.
