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Last year, on December 1, Luka Doncic and his fiance, Anamaria Goltes, welcomed their daughter, Gabriela, to the world. Today, they celebrated her first birthday with gifts, like her kid-sized Lamborghini Urus.
Doncic and Goltes have been engaged since July 7, 2023. The date is significant because the date and month match Doncic's jersey number “77”. The pair have known each other since they were children in Slovenia. Doncic proposed at Bled Castle, one of Slovenia's most picturesque and most visited attractions, which dates back to 1011.
Mavericks enduring Luka Doncic's absence
Now 12-8 after Saturday night's 106-94 win over the Utah Jazz, the Mavericks have been without Doncic for nearly two weeks because of a wrist injury. With their superstar sidelined, Dallas is leaning hard on Kyrie Irving. Last night, he led the way against Utah by contributing 30 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Winners of three straight and seven of their last eight, the Mavericks are crawling their way back up the Western Conference standings. Only four games separate the conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder at 15-4, and the 12-9 Los Angeles Clippers slotted at ninth in the West.
Every NBA season is a battle and Irving spoke about his motivations while talking about getting back to the NBA Finals. At the same time, he acknowledged the Boston Celtics were no joke last season and Irving described them as a superteam.
“We lost in the Finals last year, bro. You don't think I'm a little more motivated? We were right there. We were going against a superteam.”
To make a proper run at the Finals this year, Dallas needs Doncic back in a big way. The Mavericks have also endured missed games from key role players like Klay Thompson, P.J. Washington, Dereck Lively II and Maxi Kleber in this early season. Dennis Smith Jr., a former teammate of Doncic, if for only briefly, spoke highly of him while on the Run Your Race podcast.
“I knew he was nice as h**l,” Smith said. “I didn't know he was gonna be… I mean, I kind of did… I was always telling people, ‘he's cold.' They acted like I had some kind of input on the draft… I was like, ‘I like Luka, I like Jaren Jackson and I'd say Mo Bamba,” Smith continued. “Those are the three people that I like. But he (Doncic) d**n-near best player in the world. Like, he's up there. I ain't know he was going to be this cold. I knew he was going to be special, but he otherworldly.”
The Mavericks play Portland on Sunday night, one of three matchups against the Trail Blazers in the month of December.
