Luka Dončić is a car enthusiast. The great point guard for the Dallas Mavericks is so passionate about cars that he brought five of them to our interview. We meet beneath an open sky full of golden end-of-winter light near a paved cliff on the southern edge of Dallas’s Trinity River. The Mavericks are on pace to make the playoffs as of early March. However, today is more about gaining an understanding of Dončić’s life off the floor than it is about hearing about his exceptional ability. Everything related to cars is at its core.
“It was a Porsche Panamera that I drove as my first luxury car,” says Dončić, who was born in Ljubljana and gives a small smile. “I currently own thirteen automobiles. In Slovenia, a Porsche 911 still exists. Despite my just two inches of height difference from Dončić, I inform him that I am unable to squeeze inside a 911. In what way does he? He replies, matter-of-factly, “I just do.”
Around us, there is a diverse range of high-quality vehicles, such as a nearly neon purple Lamborghini Urus, a distinctive red Ferrari 812 Superfast, a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro in marine blue, and Dončić’s favorite, a matte-black Apocalypse Hellfire 6×6 truck. During our inspection, I see that the odometers on all of these cars have reasonable numbers. Dončić gives a shrug. “I enjoy operating a vehicle. It is private time,” he declares. “I travel by car everywhere. Occasionally, late at night, just about. I enjoy taking drives along the water in the summer.
This fifth car is here for demonstration. This orange 2019 Koenigsegg Regera had an initial sticker price of around $3 million. Dončić is considering purchasing it. He moves to the driver’s side, taking care to keep his shoulder from getting caught in the automated and elevated back hood. He cocks his head. Scratching the doorframe with his hands, all he says is, “This one…I do not think I will fit.” He analyzes it, saying nothing.
The cautious, thoughtful, almost reverent Dončić is the complete reverse of the player he is on the court out here among the automobiles. Yes, the 25-year-old point guard does not stop moving, crashing into the hoop with an almost overwhelming force. However, he is also gregarious and passionate in between impulses; he does not hesitate to agitate and stir. As for his basketball IQ, Dončić’s ability to read a play, to predict the defense, and to anticipate the entire ebb and flow of an exchange…It is really powerful, though. LeBron James once remarked, “[Luka] can control a game,” on HBO’s The Shop. He is not even required to fire.The mind is the cause.
When I ask what it is about basketball that he thinks comes most naturally to him–and how he’s able to decipher the sport with such prescience–Dončić is humble: “I believe I have just always had a sense for it. I’ve been around it since I was very young.”
Dončić’s sixth NBA season, 2023–24, was his finest to date. Following a March and early-April surge, he’s now in the playoffs for the fourth time with the Mavericks. (This year’s postseason kicks off on April 20, and, worth noting, Dončić is also in the running for MVP.) This season, he finished atop the league’s point-scoring leaderboard, averaging 33.9 per game. In one, against the Atlanta Hawks on January 26, he reached a stunning 73 points. This number tied with the NBA’s fourth-highest threshold ever by a player in a single game; only the late Kobe Bryant and Wilt Chamberlain have gone higher. “It was special,” Dončić says. “And we got the win, which matters to me most and more than anything.”
A few weeks later, Dončić went on a 47-point run against the Houston Rockets, which included a jaw-dropping, buzzer-beating underhand trick shot from just inside the 3-point-line. “Wasn’t surprised [it went in],” he deadpanned in a press conference afterward. “You know, when I was young, I was bartending, so I’m used to it.” As he said this, he made a palm-up cradling motion as if holding a cocktail shaker.