Luka Dončić: Biography, Career & Stats
Luka Dončić is a Slovenian point guard from Ljubljana who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers and is one of the most productive offensive players in NBA history. He won the 2018–19 Rookie of the Year award, has made the All-NBA First Team six times, and has won two scoring titles, in 2023–24 with Dallas and in 2025–26 with the Lakers. Before the NBA he won the EuroLeague with Real Madrid, and at 18 he led Slovenia to the EuroBasket title in 2017.
2018–19 Rookie of the Year
6× All-NBA First Team
2
2023–24 and 2025–26
15,000+
523 games · through 9 November 2026
73
January 2024, with Dallas
2017
Slovenia’s only title
Athlete Profile
Dončić combines scoring, passing and rebounding at a rate few guards have matched. He reached the NBA at 19 after three seasons with Real Madrid, and his career line is close to 29 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists per game. The main facts about his life and game are below.
Full name
Luka Dončić
Born
28 February 1999, Ljubljana, Slovenia (age 27)
Height
6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Position
Point guard
Draft
2018, 3rd overall, Atlanta Hawks; traded to the Dallas Mavericks on draft night
Teams
Real Madrid (2015–2018) · Dallas Mavericks (2018–2025) · Los Angeles Lakers (2025–present), No. 77
Honours
2018–19 Rookie of the Year, 2× scoring champion, 6× All-Star, 6× All-NBA First Team, 2024 Western Conference Finals MVP
International
EuroBasket gold 2017 · Olympic fourth place 2020 · EuroBasket All-Star Five 2017 and 2025
Contract
Three-year extension of up to $165 million signed August 2025, with a player option for 2028–29
Early Life
Dončić was born in Ljubljana and grew up in Slovenia in a basketball family: his father, Saša, was a professional player. He joined the Real Madrid youth system as a teenager and made his first-team debut in 2015, at 16.
He spent three seasons in Madrid and won the 2018 EuroLeague title, being named the competition’s MVP, before declaring for the 2018 NBA draft.
Career
Dončić’s career runs from Real Madrid to Dallas and, after a trade in 2025, to the Lakers. The key stages are below.
Rookie of the Year
Atlanta drafted Dončić third overall in 2018 and traded his rights to Dallas. He won Rookie of the Year and was named to the All-Rookie First Team, a strong start to his NBA basketball career.
All-NBA First Team and the Western Conference Finals
Dončić made the All-NBA First Team in every season from his rookie year through 2023–24 and led Dallas to the Western Conference Finals in 2022. He signed a five-year, $215 million extension in 2021.
First scoring title and the NBA Finals
In 2023–24 Dončić averaged 33.9 points in 70 games to win his first scoring title. He scored a career-high 73 points in January 2024. In the playoffs he was named Western Conference Finals MVP, and Dallas reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011, where it lost to Boston in five games. Over 22 postseason games he averaged 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.1 assists, and he played through injuries during the Finals.
The trade to the Lakers
On 2 February 2025 Dallas traded Dončić to the Lakers in a three-team deal that sent Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. Dončić averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 28 games for Los Angeles that season, and the Lakers lost in the first round to Minnesota.
Extension through 2028
On 2 August 2025 Dončić signed a three-year maximum extension worth up to $165 million, with a player option for 2028–29. The deal means he can sign a larger maximum contract in the summer of 2028, once he has ten years of service.
Second scoring title
Dončić averaged 33.5 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds in 64 games and won his second scoring title, beating Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (31.1) and Anthony Edwards (28.8). He was the first Laker to lead the league in scoring since Kobe Bryant in 2007. He was named to the All-NBA First Team for the sixth time and finished fourth in MVP voting.
Career Statistics and Honours
Career totals below run through 9 November 2026.
Medals and marks
| Mark | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rookie of the Year | 2018–19; also All-Rookie First Team |
| Scoring champion | 2023–24 (33.9 points per game) and 2025–26 (33.5) |
| All-Star | 6 selections |
| All-NBA First Team | 6 selections: 2018–19 to 2023–24 and 2025–26 |
| Western Conference Finals MVP | 2024 |
| NBA Cup All-Tournament Team | 2025, averaging 36.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 10.0 assists |
| Career high | 73 points, January 2024 |
| EuroLeague | Champion and MVP, 2018 (Real Madrid) |
| EuroBasket | Gold in 2017; All-Star Five in 2017 and 2025 |
| Olympic Games | Fourth place, Tokyo 2020 |
Career averages
| Competition | Games | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | 523 | 29.4 | 8.5 | 8.2 | 1.3 | 46.9 | 35.4 | 75.8 |
| Playoffs | 55 | 30.9 | 9.2 | 7.8 | 1.6 | 46.1 | 34.7 | 73.7 |
Recent seasons
| Season | Team | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | Dallas Mavericks | 70 games, 33.9 points (scoring title) |
| 2025–26 | Los Angeles Lakers | 64 games, 33.5 points, 8.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds (scoring title) |
| 2026–27 | Los Angeles Lakers | 9 games, 40.1 points, 7.7 assists, 7.8 rebounds (through 9 November) |
International Career
Dončić has played for Slovenia since 2017 and has won one major title, EuroBasket 2017, while leading the team at the Olympics and four other major tournaments.
At EuroBasket 2017 he was 18 and helped Slovenia win the title, with Goran Dragić as tournament MVP. He was named to the All-Star Five. Slovenia then qualified for its first Olympics by winning the 2021 qualifying tournament in Kaunas, where Dončić had a triple-double of 31 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds in the final against Lithuania.
At the Tokyo Olympics he averaged 23.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.5 assists, and Slovenia finished fourth after losing the bronze-medal game to Australia 107–93. Slovenia finished sixth at EuroBasket 2022 and lost in the quarter-finals of the 2023 World Cup. In July 2024 it lost 96–68 to Greece in the Olympic qualifying semi-final, so Dončić missed the Paris Games.
At EuroBasket 2025 he led the tournament with 34.7 points per game and had a triple-double of 26 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists against Belgium. Slovenia lost 99–91 to Germany in the quarter-finals, where he scored 39 points, and finished seventh. He was named to the All-Star Five for the second time.
2026–27 Season
Dončić’s 2025–26 ended early with a hamstring injury, but he opened the new season with a run of high-scoring games in the Lakers’ first year without LeBron James. These are the key moments.
A hamstring injury and a swept second round
Dončić hurt his hamstring in early April against Oklahoma City and missed the rest of the regular season and all of the playoffs. The Lakers beat Houston in the first round, with LeBron James leading the way, and were then swept by the Thunder in the second round.
Forty-point games to start the year
Through 9 November Dončić was averaging 40.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists in nine games. By 3 November he had scored at least 37 points in five straight games and topped 40 in four of them: 52 at Utah, then 41, 45 and 42. He scored 45 points with 15 rebounds in a win over Toronto on 1 November and 42 points with 13 assists in a win over Miami the next night. The Lakers were 6–2 with nine new players and led the league in team field-goal percentage.
Beyond the court
When he signed his 2025 extension, Dončić said he would donate $5 million of it to 77 athletes around the world.
FAQ
His career high is 73 points, scored in January 2024 while he played for the Dallas Mavericks.
He has two: 2023–24 with Dallas (33.9 points per game) and 2025–26 with the Lakers (33.5).
Dallas traded him to the Lakers on 2 February 2025 in a three-team deal that sent Anthony Davis to the Mavericks. The trade surprised the league because Dončić was a five-time All-NBA First Team player at the time.
He signed a three-year extension worth up to $165 million in August 2025. It includes a player option for the 2028–29 season.
No. He reached the NBA Finals with Dallas in 2024, where the Mavericks lost to Boston in five games. In the NBA he has won Rookie of the Year, two scoring titles and a Western Conference Finals MVP award.
He played at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where Slovenia finished fourth. Slovenia failed to qualify for the 2024 Paris Games after losing to Greece in the qualifying tournament.
Yes, in 2017, at age 18. He was also named to the tournament's All-Star Five in 2025, when Slovenia lost to Germany in the quarter-finals.
He wears No. 77 for the Lakers.