The Dallas Mavericks are locked into a heated battle with the Eastern Conference Champions in the Boston Celtics. Just before the start of the 2024 NBA Finals, however, Luka Doncic was celebrating the union of French superstar Kylian Mbappe and Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid.
After seven seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappe announced he was departing from the club. Although it was assumed for a while, Real Madrid officially made his signing official with the announcement on June 3, 2024.
Ahead of Sunday night’s Game 2 between the Celtics and Mavericks, Luka Doncic was asked a lighthearted question about Mbappe joining Real Madrid. His response?
Doncic says he hasn’t had a chance to speak with Mbappe since he joined Real Madrid last week. Doncic has been busy preparing for the NBA Finals while Mbappe has been moving. In all likelihood, the two will get together at some point during the NBA’s offseason.
On June 14th, the UEFA European Championship will begin and go on for a month. Luka Doncic says he thinks his home country of Slovenia will win. Kylian Mbappe’s French team is in Group D with Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands while Doncic’s Slovenia are in Group C with Denmark, Serbia, and England.
Real Madrid recently won the UEFA Champions League over Dortmund This past Champions League title was their 15th, which increases their record-setting lead over AC Milan’s seven
Back in the States, meanwhile, Luka Doncic is looking to lead his Mavericks to their second NBA Championship in franchise history. Winning the 2024 title would be Dallas’ second in 13 seasons. First, however, Doncic has to lead the Mavs to a Game 2 victory on Sunday night.
In Thursday’s NBA Finals Game 1 loss in Boston, Doncic scored 30 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and had two steals, but finished with just one assist. It was the first time in his NBA playoff career that he finished with one or fewer assists in a game. In fact, it was just the seventh time in his 446 game career (regular season and playoffs) that he registered one or zero assists in a game.
“They mostly played one-on-one,” Luka Doncic said as to the reason for his unusually low assist total. “They send a lot of help. So that’s why.
“I think just be a little bit more aggressive. I think we all came out for the game with little energy. So I think we have to be better with our energy especially from the start.”