HEARTBREAKING NEWS :luka doncic parents Mirjam Poterbin, and Saša Dončić have just be confirmed dead in a car crash…

HEARTBREAKING NEWS :luka doncic parents Mirjam Poterbin, and Saša Dončić have just be confirmed dead in a car crash…

As the son of a former professional basketball player, it’s no surprise Luka Doncic is a NBA All-Star

Left: Luka Doncic and his mother pose for a photo at the Post NBA Draft press conference on June 22, 2018. Right: Sasa Doncic looks on as the Mavericks take on the Denver Nuggets at American Airlines Center on November 18, 2022. . PHOTO: GLENN JAMES/NBAE/GETTY ; TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY

Luka Doncic’s parents, Mirjam Poterbin and Sasa Doncic, always knew that the Dallas Mavericks guard was destined for greatness.

Since day one, [when] Luka started to walk he was crazy about basketball,” Mirjam said in a 2022 episode of Euroleague Basketball’s Table Talk. “Even when he had birthdays, for the present he always said, ‘I want to have a ball or sneakers.’ That’s it.”

The future NBA player was born to Mirjam and Sasa on Feb. 28, 1999, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. At the time, Sasa was a professional basketball player, so it wasn’t a surprise to the couple when their young son showed an early interest in the sport.

Though his parents divorced in 2008, they remained supportive of Luka’s ambitions. At age 13, the young basketball prodigy signed a five-year contract with Real Madrid, and despite his mom’s initial hesitation to let the teenager leave their native Slovenia, Luka moved to Spain

I was a little scared in the beginning because first I said, ‘Maybe Luka, you can think about it,’ but he looked me in my eyes and said, ‘Mum, I want to try,’ ” Mirjam recalled. “So that was the moment I knew I had to let him go.”