When Luka Dončić plays against the Wagner brothers and the Orlando Magic, you know it’s going to be entertaining. Especially Mo Wagner, Luka’s nemesis – or more like frenemy – brings out the best and the worst (trash talk) in him.
Last week, when the Dallas Mavericks played the Magic, he revealed that he had been talking to the German Wagner brothers, Franz and Moritz, in their native tongue during the game, trying to get under their skin.
And while most people were in awe of Luka’s language skills, it left some shrugging. The thing is, it’s not really that extraordinary to know some words in German, when you were raised in Europe. What Luka Dončić really did here is show us what it looks like to play basketball in Europe.
It is not rare, on the Old Continent, to speak a few words of German – or any other of the major European languages – it’s the norm in most places. To be fair, no one is saying that Luka Dončić isn’t accomplished in his language skills. He speaks four languages well enough for press conferences (Slovenian, Serbian, Spanish and English), which is more than most.
But Luka casually acting like a European (they trash talk in multiple languages in Europe, Kobe Bryant style) in the best way against the Orlando Magic got me thinking about just how much he manages to spread knowledge of his culture by just being himself.
Because in the simple act of mentioning that he trash talked in German, he’s putting a spotlight on a very European thing: learning about languages and cultures early to try to get along better. And this little story may just help give people a different perspective on how life is lived and what culture looks like in other places of the world.
In Europe, we live very close to each other. Nations, friendly or less friendly, are in some places only miles apart, and some people have to cross a border daily or regularly to work, shop or go to school.
I live in Denmark, and many of my friends live in Sweden and work in Copenhagen, crossing borders every day. Same can be said for regions all over Europe, which illustrates what a small, closely inhabited area of the world we are talking about. There’s hundreds of customs, languages and cultures which Europeans have to maneuvre every day. Every place where there’s a border, there are people navigating this life of transition, flexibility and adaptability. And just look at a map, there are borders everywhere.
If we return to Luka Dončić, the fact that he managed to wow a lot of Americans really shows how he – by just being himself – manages to bring light to how life and cultures in Europe differ from that in the US. In both good and bad ways.
Like everything else in life, Europe is much more nuanced than it seems. It’s complicated, it’s temperamental, it’s full of conflict but also of joy, complexity and old habits. Does that remind you of someone?
In Europe, we’re slow to change and quick to anger, but can almost always find community and friendship over a meal and pint of beer.
When Luka Dončić plays basketball, he is the best representative of European culture out there. He is slow to change, temperamental, joyful, and full of old habits. But he’s also ingenious, constantly finding new ways of doing things, he struggles with bad habits but keeps taking accountability.
He’s not a glossy image, he’s not a polished and media trained influencer. By trash talking in German, listening to Slovenian music in warm-ups, having a recovery beer rather than a case of halftime beer like in the days of Michael Jordan, sharing European music on his social media and talking about how he watches more European basketball and football than NBA, he shows the American fan a new and different perspective of an NBA superstar.
When he shows up in the same suit three years in a row, he shows us that he doesn’t care about what he looks like. His values are more akin to the European mindset. He likes cars and watches, but his TV is famously small and old. Just like mine.
Now settle down, not all Europeans have small and old TV’s, and not all Americans will spend a whole paycheck on a huge, new TV. I, for one, care more about what I wear than Luka Dončić seems to do. But the point is that these things indicate a certain type of personality, one you find all over the Old Continent. His values are more European than the American focus on fame and money.
Luka would rather be left alone. He wants to retire on a Slovenian farm. He stays away from people all summer. He’s even said he wishes he wasn’t famous. In this way, he is very similar to his good friend Nikola Jokic, who really seems to rather want to be with his horses in Serbia than win MVP awards.
