Luka Doncic and Donnie Nelson International Reunion Announced
The Dallas Mavericks altered the course of their franchise by inexplicably trading 25-year-old superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in February.
Advertisement
General manager Nico Harrison made the move less than a year after Doncic led the Mavs to their third NBA Finals ever. The Slovenian star, who battled through injury throughout the postseason run, also took part in a Paris Olympics qualifying tournament for his home country Slovenia shortly after the Finals in 2024.
Doncic has always taken pride in representing his country on the global stage, having played in European leagues and for his national team for years before making it to the NBA in 2018.
Now he has a former Mavericks staffer joining him in those international endeavors.
Former Mavericks general manager and director of basketball operations Donnie Nelson has accepted a special advisor role with the Slovenian national team, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein.
Advertisement
Nelson was an instrumental figure in bringing international stars Dirk Nowitzki and Doncic to Dallas when they were drafted.
Stein noted that Nelson also has experience with Lithuania's national team in an assistant coach capacity. The Slovenian federation announced that Nelson will "advise the federation's leadership and the national team staff."
The move reunites Nelson with Doncic for the first time since Luka's shocking dismissal from Dallas. The former remains impressed by Luka's ability to lead the Slovenian team, as they have big goals for the upcoming Olympics.
'Becoming a part of Slovenian basketball is a great honor for me," Nelson said. "I look forward to working with Matej Erjavec, Sasa Doncic and everyone at the Basketball Federation of Slovenia."
Advertisement
'Watching Luka lead the team to a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, I became excited about the potential,' he added. 'I can't wait to see what the Slovenian national team can achieve in the future. I sincerely hope to be in Los Angeles in 2028. I look forward to being a part of its journey.'
The executive responsible for building the Mavericks' 2011 championship roster "mutually agreed to part ways" with the organization in 2021, ending Nelson's 24-year tenure in Dallas.
That marked the official end of an era, as Nelson was a second-generation Mavericks icon. His father Don was the team's head coach from 1997-2005.
Related: Mavericks Nearing Jason Kidd Decision Amid NBA Coaching Shuffle
Related: Lakers Championship Coach Hired By Dallas Mavericks Amid Major Changes
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
41 minutes ago
- USA Today
Boston Celtics jersey history No. 26 - Rick Weitzman (1967-68)
The Boston Celtics have had players suiting up in a total of 68 different jersey numbers (and have three others not part of any numerical series) since their founding at the dawn of the Basketball Association of America (BAA -- the league that would become today's NBA), worn by well over 500 players in the course of Celtics history. To commemorate the players who wore those numbers, Celtics Wire is covering the entire history of jersey numbers and the players who sported them since the founding of the team. With 25 of those jerseys now retired to honor some of the greatest Celtics to wear those jerseys, there is a lot of history to cover. And for today's article, we will continue with the second of 10 people to wear the No. 26, Boston guard alum Rick Weitzman. After ending his college career at Northeastern, Weitzman was picked up with the 110th overall selection (there were many more rounds in that era of the draft) of the 1967 NBA draft by the Celtics. The Boston, Massachusetts native would play the sole season of his NBA career with Boston, retiring from the league as a player afterward. During his time suiting up for the Celtics, Weitzman wore only jersey No. 26 and put up 1.3 points per game. All stats and data courtesy of Basketball Reference.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bronny James on his main focus this offseason
This is a big offseason for Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. He had a promising finish to his rookie year this past season in the G League, and working hard and smart on his game this summer is of paramount importance if he is going to have any chance of ever becoming a rotation player in the NBA. He didn't play in the Los Angeles Lakers' first game of the California Classic on Saturday, but he is expected to participate at some point, and summer league play should give a glimpse into what type of player he will be this coming season. Advertisement He told reporters that he is focusing on the defensive end of the court and on becoming a difference-maker in that department. 'It's definitely made me think about being more aggressive on that end of the floor, but I can't lose that defensive drive that will get me on the floor because there's gonna be guys that can score 15, 20 a game,' the younger James said. 'I'm most likely not going to be that guy right now. To get myself on the floor, I've got to be a defensive menace. That's my main focus, getting conditioned this year. It's been shown that I know how to score the ball a little bit, I'm staying true to that, but also focusing on the defensive end.' While the 20-year-old could become a spark plug on the offensive end and has shown signs of doing just that, he has been lauded over the last couple years for his defense, which could be more developed than his offensive game at this point. With his ample athleticism and defensive instincts, perhaps he could carve out a reputation as someone who makes a living on that end of the floor. This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Bronny James on his main focus this offseason
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Bronny James on his main focus this offseason
This is a big offseason for Bronny James, the son of LeBron James. He had a promising finish to his rookie year this past season in the G League, and working hard and smart on his game this summer is of paramount importance if he is going to have any chance of ever becoming a rotation player in the NBA. He didn't play in the Los Angeles Lakers' first game of the California Classic on Saturday, but he is expected to participate at some point, and summer league play should give a glimpse into what type of player he will be this coming season. He told reporters that he is focusing on the defensive end of the court and on becoming a difference-maker in that department. 'It's definitely made me think about being more aggressive on that end of the floor, but I can't lose that defensive drive that will get me on the floor because there's gonna be guys that can score 15, 20 a game,' the younger James said. 'I'm most likely not going to be that guy right now. To get myself on the floor, I've got to be a defensive menace. That's my main focus, getting conditioned this year. It's been shown that I know how to score the ball a little bit, I'm staying true to that, but also focusing on the defensive end.' While the 20-year-old could become a spark plug on the offensive end and has shown signs of doing just that, he has been lauded over the last couple years for his defense, which could be more developed than his offensive game at this point. With his ample athleticism and defensive instincts, perhaps he could carve out a reputation as someone who makes a living on that end of the floor.
