In this year's NBA draft, Luka Doncic (Luka Doncic) may be the most sought after rookie player. The media frenzy surrounding him hours after he became a member of the Dallas Mavericks speaks volumes.
Luka Doncic finds himself in yet another promotional photo — and this is already his third or fourth on draft night. An NBA production assistant is shooting a series of short films for Doncic to promote the league in the next few months. He wants Doncic to show a series of positive emotions in the filming: excitement! eager! confidence!
At the Barclays Center on Thursday night, Doncic, the talented guard from Slovenia and new addition to the Dallas Mavericks, did better and better as he was coached by the staff.
"Can you wave your hat in front of the poster?" asked Production Assistant Jillian Rubenoff.
Doncic waved his hat in front of the poster.
"Great!" Rubenoff admires. "How about a little dance?"
Doncic dances a little.
"Great!" Rubenoff called, "Can you do a fist pump?"
Doncic pumped his fist.
"Handsome!" Rubenoff exclaimed excitedly.
The 19-year-old Doncic is recognized as one of the most talented young players in the history of Europe to the NBA. He is also beginning to discover that the moment he participates in the NBA draft, his own responsibility also comes with it. , especially for a No. 3 pick. If the moment Doncic was selected was his happiest moment, then the following series of procedures will allow him to quickly see the scripted side of this growing large group, and it will also let him understand that he is in the NBA. What kind of reality will your new life be like.
But Doncic doesn't seem to worry about that.
“Honestly,” he said, “it’s like a dream.”
League staff led Doncic around the gym for four hours so everyone could ask him to adjust his baseball cap ( Come to pose), hand the microphone in front of him to interview him, make him smile during the group photo. He literally took too many selfies. Doncic was interviewed in Spanish, Slovenian and English. He was asked how excited he was, what excites him the most and if he's been more excited before.
One of the very stubborn reporters has been asking Doncic if he can guarantee that theMavericks who have had a poor record in recent yearsplayoffs (maybe he can't). In addition, Doncic sent congratulations to the rookies of the same class. He also kissed his mother, shook hands with everyone, sent a few text messages, and answered a call from a billionaire.
"I don't think I'm going to go to dinner," he said after a moment of silence, "I'll just go back to the hotel and order room service and then go to sleep."
For Doncic, this is not ordinary of the week. He led Real Madrid to the EuroLeague title last Tuesday, then arrived in New York at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, hours before he started experiencing jet lag. Doncic admitted that he woke up at 4 a.m. the next day and finally played video games in his hotel room, even though he knew in his heart that Thursday would be a particularly important day.
It was a big day indeed, after NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the Atlanta Hawks took Doncic with the third pick, he walked onto the stage at 7:47 p.m. and shook Silver's hand. Later, Doncic learned from his agent that the Mavericks had acquired him through a trade, but no official statement has been made on the deal. At this time, Doncic has accepted several rounds of interviews with ESPN and NBA TV. One was also broadcast live directly on the big screen.
Doncic did all of the above pretending to be a member of the Hawks -- he looked very excited -- and, more realistically, with an Eagles hat on his head.
but after entering the retreat with the dallas staffAfter leaving the rest area, he received a personal phone call. Minutes later, Doncic appeared in the crowd wearing a Mavericks cap. He handed the previous Eagles hat to an NBA employee and asked her if he could keep it as a souvenir. The staff told him to do whatever he wanted: it was his night.
As the draft begins to wind down, a photographer named Slavko Baranja, who works for a Slovenian news agency with a branch in New York, waits patiently in the aisle next to him. department. Bearing a wide Slovenian flag, Barania became an ambassador to more than 2.1 million Slovenians in that moment — sending Doncic his best wishes.
"It doesn't happen every year," Barania said. "It's incredible, you know?" Zhang Zhao, the latter also celebrated by high-fiving his friends one by one. Doncic politely asked if he could keep the flag, and Barania felt particularly honored because Doncic even asked himself specifically.
Doncic accepted another interview with NBA TV (as a new member of the Lone Ranger), and the reporter now asked him how it feels to join the Lone Ranger. Doncic smiled in front of the background board of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the media also took pictures Here are more pictures of him. He flipped a basketball on his fingers, and adjusted his body from time to time according to the requirements of the Lone Ranger staff to facilitate everyone to take pictures. Afterwards, he met with Vince Carter (Vince Carter) On the other hand, the 40-year-old swingman played a season with the Kings last year. The two hugged, and Carter seemed to be an official representative sent by the NBA, warmly welcoming Doncic to the big NBA family. There are more expectations and good things waiting for Doncic in the
league. After being selected, he was taken to a mysterious area with fluorescent lights, which is called the "social media cabin." The team was selected at the fourth place) was pushed directly behind the crowd by the media chasing Doncic, and many people also wanted to get some scoops from Doncic, let him talk about how this draft tonight actually made him How excited.
"Luka got the world's attention!" exclaimed Jackson. The
league staff took Doncic to another room, where there was a press conference dedicated to him. He was asked how he compared himself to Drazen Petrovic (Drazen Petrovic: Croatian basketball player, considered one of the best foreign players in NBA history), Doncic replied: "If I imagine Germany Latzen is just as good, so I have to work harder. In addition, he was also asked about Dirk Nowitzki (the hero of the Lone Ranger will definitely play East next season. Cicchi’s mentor role), Doncic replied: “He’s a legend. "After
, a mobile phone was handed to Doncic. The voice of Lone Rangers owner Mark Cuban (Mark Cuban) came from the other end of the phone. Obviously, Cuban said some polite words to Doncic, Then Doncic expressed his thanks.
Next session: Free gifts! Doncic entered another cabin, and he took off an old watch in his hand and replaced it with a new watch provided by a league sponsor. The strap is the Mavericks blue.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, and draft night is no exception. Doncic then came to the Nets practice facility, but it has been transformed into a series of TV studios and broadcast booths. People kept handing him things: bottled water, jerseys to sign, microphones pinned to the lapels of suits. After a live interview with a Chinese reporter, Doncic felt It should be over.
"It's over? He asked in a pleading tone.
not yet, CBS and NBC wanted to interview him. Doncic sat in a chair and accepted an online interview with a group of international reporters. He stopped in front of the camera to pose , kept looking at his pair of black square-toed leather shoes.
"My shoes. ' he said, 'it's almost time for mydead. "
It was past 11 o'clock when he stood in front of another camera lens. The light gray blue tailor-made suit on him still looked so neat and clean. This suit was from Savile Row (Savile Row: the world's most Top-notch suits are hand-stitched) shipped directly to Madrid.
"Did he tell you that he wanted to put a tiger on the inside of the suit? asked Doncic's publicist, Alyson Furch, "but it wasn't possible then." "
Furch helped Doncic with his hair and suggested that he unbutton his suit.
"Wow. exclaimed Furch, as if admiring a work he had completed, "look at this handsome boy!" "
Doncic turned to the camera and smiled.
