Luka Doncic appeared on ‘Mind the Game’ to discuss his love for basketball, early multi-sport days, and being a EuroLeague ball boy. He credits his father’s influence and a childhood immersed in hoops for shaping his passion and NBA journey.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic recently sat down with NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash and his Los Angeles Lakers teammate LeBron James for the latest installment of the ‘Mind the Game’ podcast.
While the full episode will be released on Sunday, the show offered fans a sneak peek on Saturday with a short clip posted on X. In the segment, Doncic opened up about the foundation of his love for basketball, his multi-sport upbringing, and the early exposure he had to the game thanks to his father.
“Well, for me I wasn’t good at any other sports,” Doncic admitted with a laugh while speaking to Nash.
“Except soccer, I was… not like you,” he added, giving Nash a nod for his well-known soccer skills.
“Yeah, I was playing a lot of sports. Tennis, soccer, and basketball were the main ones. I played volleyball… For me, it was fun just to do sports. And then I went outside, you know? Like, after school, I went outside every time.”
Though Doncic confirmed that basketball eventually became his main focus—“I mostly played basketball”—his time in other sports clearly shaped his athletic identity. But the turning point came through his family, especially his father Sasa Doncic, a former professional basketball player and coach.
When Nash asked whether his dad influenced his passion for the game, Doncic didn’t hesitate:
“Yeah, for sure,” he said. “Like, I went to his games… I started being ball boy. I was a lot of ball boy in EuroLeague games. I was ball boy for Olimpija [Ljubljana] so that’s how I used my time to just get on basketball. They’d let us get in before the game, halftime and after the game, I was just shooting.”
Doncic’s early experience courtside—watching professionals up close, rebounding for warmups, and sneaking in shots during downtime—wasn’t just a novelty. It was formative.
“I was just shooting,” he repeated, emphasizing how natural it became for him to live and breathe basketball.
Now 26 and a five-time All-Star, Doncic is in his first full season with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he shares the spotlight—and often the floor—with LeBron James. The Lakers are reshaping their roster around that superstar duo, with hopes of returning to the NBA Finals in the near future.
