Vlade reportedly didn’t like Luka Doncic’s dad, therefore overlooked the young phenom for the Kings.
Luka Doncic is a monster, and he’s a player that any GM in the NBA would want on their team. Well, almost anyone that is. There’s a story that surfaced that weekend ESPN’s Tim MacMahon where he explains why Vlade Divac and the Sacramento Kings passed on the young phenom, and it’s reportedly because Luka’s dad.
The Sacramento Kings had the second pick in the 2018 draft, but instead grabbing Doncic like most teams would have, the Kings elected to move forward with Duke’s Marvin Bagley. Doncic had a lot hype coming into the draft as he was just named the EuroLeague MVP at 19-years-old, but apparently Divac wasn’t a fan his old man.
“My understanding is that Divac] being so close to Luka and knowing his dad so well factored into their decision,” MacMahon told The Woj Pod. “Basically, he didn’t think a whole lot Luka’s dad, and the whole like father like son … well … no, this is a different dude. You messed that one up, Vlade.”
As Complex points out, Luka’s dad, Sasha Doncic, was a pressional basketball coach and former EuroLeague player, who happened to have played in Vlade’s native land Serbia. That makes it possible that the two crossed paths during their time on the EuroLeague circuit, but that’s just speculation at this moment. Either way, Vlade dropped the ball with that move.