The Dallas Mavericks are taking on Real Madrid Tuesday as their international preseason journey continues. This matchup is especially significant for Mavs star Luka Doncic, who began his career with Real Madrid before he was selected by the Atlanta Hawks and then traded to the Mavs in the 2018 NBA draft.
During his three years with Real Madrid, Doncic won the EuroLeague MVP, the EuroLeague championship and became part of the EuroLeague All-Decade team. Ahead of the preseason matchup, Doncic spoke on how Real Madrid molded him as a player, and the possibility of returning to play for them in the future.
“I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for Real Madrid,” Luka Doncic said. “I learned everything here: speaking, studying and playing basketball. I’d like to take a lot of teammates with me: Rudy, Llull, a coach, a physio,” he mentioned, “I’ve got a lot of great memories and I’m happy to be back. If I return to Europe one day, I’m sure it will be to Real Madrid. That’s 100%,” via Johnny Askounis of Euro Hoops.
“I’ve been looking forward to this game for months now and it’s going to be one of the most special games of my career, maybe the most. It’s going to be really exciting and I’m looking forward to getting out there on the court.”
The matchup comes after the Mavs lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in their first two preseason games which were both held in Abu Dhabi. After a disappointing season where the Mavs failed to make the playoffs a year ago, Dallas is looking to rebound, starting with this preseason matchup versus Real Madrid.