Luka Doncic was greeted by an old face as he took to the court to prepare for his latest Dallas Mavericks outing on Friday night.
Prior to their NBA playoff game against the LA Clippers, the Mavs superstar shared a warm embrace with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who headed to Dallas’ American Airlines Center to watch his former basketball player in action.
Doncic, one of the top talents in the NBA today, began his professional career in Spain with Perez’s Real Madrid before leaving for the big league in 2018.
During his time in Madrid he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo while earning the nickname ‘The Boy Wonder’, a result of becoming the youngest-ever winner of the EuroLeague’s MVP award last season.
Now Doncic is widely considered one of the greatest European players of all time, and Perez was keen to watch him in the flesh once more.
Luka Doncic enjoyed a reunion with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez on Friday night
Doncic spent his formative years plying his trade as a pro for Perez’s Real Madrid team in Spain
The pair shared a warm embrace at courtside prior to the Mavs’ game against the Clippers
Back in October, the Slovenian point guard returned to Madrid for a preseason game against his old team, where he was presented with an award from Perez as an honorary member of the club while receiving a standing ovation.
After their brief reunion at courtside before the game, Doncic put up 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a 101-90 victory over LA which moved his Dallas team 2-1 ahead in their five-game first-round playoff series.
The Mavs rode the same defense that gave them home-court advantage with a Game 2 victory in LA, and won in Dallas three years after losing all three first-round games on their floor in a seven-game loss to the Clippers. Game 4 is Sunday in Dallas.
An already testy game reached a boiling point midway through the fourth quarter on Friday when LA’s Russell Westbrook slung Doncic around after fouling him.
Westbrook was called for a technical for that contact and for shoving P.J. Washington after Washington confronted him. Washington also was called for a tech during the sequence, and already had one from an earlier shoving match with Terance Mann.
Westbrook, who in the first half got a flagrant 1 foul for excessive contact when fouling Josh Green on a breakaway, and Washington were ejected.
Doncic began his professional career in Madrid before joining the NBA back in 2018
Perez watched on as the Slovenian point guard inspired Dallas to a 101-90 win over LA
Westbrook, who missed all seven shots and scored one point, drew the ire of the crowd one other time when he bowled over Doncic after Zubac was called for a foul as the former went up for a shot. Officials reviewed the play but ruled his contact incidental.
Doncic, who briefly left the court after limping off while grabbing his right knee in the first quarter, was just 7 of 25 from the field and 3 of 13 from 3-point range.
But Dallas held George and Westbrook to a combined 1 of 10 from deep, while Leonard didn’t even have a 3 attempt among just seven shots.
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