Saša Dončić ( sr-Cyrl, Саша Дончић; born June 14, 1974) is a Slovenian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

and former player. He last served as head coach of Ilirija in the Slovenian League. He is the father of

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

player

Luka Dončić Luka Dončić ( ; ; born February 28, 1999) is a Slovenian professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Since his rookie season, he has been selected to five NBA All-Star games and fiv ...

. As a player, Dončić started his professional career in Ilirija, Ljubljana in the 1992–1993 season and played in several clubs in Slovenia throughout his career that included international club appearances in Serbia and France. He mainly played at the

shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...

and

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

positions, but could also play at

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

if needed.

Professional career

During his pro club career, Dončić won 2 Slovenian Premier A League championships (2007, 2008), and three

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

s, (2004, 2007, 2008). He also won the

Slovenian Supercup The Slovenian Supercup () was a football match played between the Slovenian PrvaLiga champions and the Slovenian Cup winners. Prior 2007, the match was held only twice, in 1995 and 1996. The competition was resurrected in 2007 and was held annual ...

, in 2007. He played in the European-wide top-tier-level league, the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

, during the 2007–08 season.

National team career

Dončić was a member of the Yugoslavia national cadet team at the

1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1991 European Championship for Cadets) was the 11th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Kastoria, Komotini and Thessaloniki, in Greece, hosted the tourna ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Over four tournament games, he averaged 2.0 points per game. In 2004, he played in two

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

for the senior

Slovenian national basketball team The Slovenia men's national basketball team () represents Slovenia in international basketball competitions, and is managed by the Basketball Federation of Slovenia. Since the independence of Slovenia in 1991, the national team has competed at e ...

at the FIBA EuroBasket 2005 qualification.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing professional basketball, Dončić began his career working as a

basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...

in 2010.

Personal life

Dončić was born in

Šempeter pri Gorici Šempeter pri Gorici (, also generally known simply as ''Šempeter''; ) is a town and the administrative seat of the Municipality of Šempeter-Vrtojba in the Slovene Littoral region of Slovenia. There is a border crossing into the Italian town of ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, now present-day Slovenia. His family is of

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

descent. He was married to Slovenian model and beauty salon owner Mirjam Poterbin, until their divorce in 2008. Their son Luka, who is also a professional basketball player, currently plays with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

in the

References

External links

Euroleague.net profile

Eurobasket.com profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doncic, Sasa 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Šempeter pri Gorici Slovenian people of Serbian descent Slovenian men's basketball players Small forwards Power forwards Shooting guards ABA League players KD Ilirija players KD Slovan players KK Krka players KK Olimpija players KK Sloga players Slovenian basketball coaches Slovenian expatriate basketball people in Serbia