This is to be expected from Luka Doncic.
Luka Doncic Reveals His Football Position Without Hesitation originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has always been passionate about basketball. He started with the sport at a young age, even signing a five-year contract with Real Madrid when he was 13.
Doncic became the youngest player ever to earn EuroLeague and EuroLeague Final Four MVP honors when he propelled Real Madrid to the 2018 EuroLeague title at just 19 years old.
When he arrived in the NBA, the Slovenian star quickly dominated en route to winning Rookie of the Year. Ever since then, he has been selected to the All-Star Game and to the All-NBA First Team five times each.
Clearly, basketball is in Doncic's blood. He was born to play the sport.
Despite that, however, Doncic recently highlighted that he grew up playing a number of sports. In an interview with the Lakers, the 26-year-old playmaker shared that "football was definitely the second sport" he played the most.
When asked what position he played in football (soccer), Doncic didn't hesitate in saying, "Striker, of course."
Luka Doncic also expressed his belief that playing football helped improve one key skill that has had a huge impact on the way he plays basketball: his footwork.
"I think playing football helped me with my footwork," Doncic explained. "You know you can take some steps out of those sports."
Luka Doncic Stats
True enough, Doncic's footwork has helped make him to the scorer that he is today. His footwork, highlighted by his incredible balance and deceptive movements, has allowed him to utilize his body better to create space against defenders and generate more scoring opportunities.
In seven seasons in the NBA, Doncic has career scoring averages of 28.6 points on 46.8% shooting from the field — including 35% from deep. He also led the league in scoring in 2023-24, putting up 33.9 points on 48.7% shooting per game.
Doncic has also put up 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists in a total of 450 regular season games between the Dallas Mavericks and Lakers.
Related: Lakers Fans React Emotionally to Damian Lillard News
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 21, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
