The Dallas Mavericks’ Slovenian star Luka Doncic gave Orlando fans a show Sunday night, dunking buckets and dishing out a few choice words—auf Deutsch, of course. In a move that would have made Kobe Bryant smirk in approval, Doncic took a page out of the late Lakers legend’s playbook, taunting his German opponents in their own language. Just your average Sunday for Luka.
Doncic wrapped up the night with a stellar 32 points, dominating the Orlando Magic’s depleted roster. The Magic, missing their star Paolo Banchero (out with a torn oblique), brought out the German brigade in Franz Wagner, rookie Tristan da Silva, and Moritz Wagner off the bench. But it wasn’t enough to keep Dallas from cruising to a 108-85 blowout victory. Nor did it stop Luka from having some fun with his “Wagner duels” and tossing some barbed phrases at Orlando’s German trio.
Channeling his inner Kobe, who famously loved trash-talking in any language he could pick up, Luka tapped into his high school German vocabulary mid-game. When asked postgame about his banter, Luka grinned. “I heard them talking in German, so I said a few things back,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “I know a little German, you know.” But when pressed to share the exact phrases he used, he threw the ball to his teammate: “Ask Maxi [Kleber], he’ll tell you.”
Kobe Bryant, known for his multilingual trash-talk skills, set the bar high for getting inside opponents’ heads. A classic Kobe moment came when he threw some shade at Argentina’s Luis Scola in Spanish during the 2008 Olympics. Luka’s German spiel may be more “basic phrases 101,” but, hey, it was enough to do the job.
Not to leave out the complimentary bits, Doncic gave a nod to Germany’s impressive recent hoops achievements. “Germany was World Cup champion—that’s an amazing accomplishment,” he said, giving the Germans a little love before continuing his trolling.
Dallas head coach Jason Kidd was thrilled with Luka’s energy and two-way play, which, for once, included a few impressive defensive moves. “I thought his energy was great. It was in the right place,” Kidd said, trying hard not to chuckle about Luka’s antics. “Tonight, he dominated on both ends—offense and defense.”
Doncic’s stat line this season is nothing to shrug at, either: 28.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 3.2 three-pointers per game, shooting 40.4%. Dallas now holds a solid 4-2 record, and Luka is averaging… well, a little bit of trash talk in multiple languages along with his buckets.
With the Pacers up next, all eyes will be on Luka to see what kind of linguistic surprise he’ll pull out of his playbook next.
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