The Best Pics From Luka Dončić’s Sports Illustrated Magazine Cover Photoshoot - Sports Illustrated

Luka Dončić recorded 23 points (6-of-16 FGs, 9-of-9 FTs), three rebounds, three assists, one steal and two three-pointers in Thursday’s exhibition against the Kings. Dončić picked up a technical foul during the third quarter of Thursday’s exhibition, but this is a good time for that to happen since they don’t carry over into the regular season. Dončić led the Lakers in points and shot attempts, and that will once again be the norm when the regular season begins. Currently boasting a top-5 ADP, Luka’s fantasy ceiling rises slightly in turnover-punt builds.

The heavy rain had just let up in Ljubljana when Luka Dončić’s e-bike zipped around a corner, splashing through a puddle deep enough to make any Lakers fan wince. Standard NBA contracts prohibit players from off-court activities—motorcycling, skydiving, even skiing—that might put a team’s nine-figure investment at “substantial risk.” Dončić has had a few of those vices. He snowboarded until he was 13, hitching rides to Krvavec Mountain nearly every winter weekend. He dabbled as a skateboarder for a few weeks. “Took too many falls,” he says. Gymnastics lasted a couple of months before Dončić grew tired of it. Biking scratches that outdoorsy itch. In Los Angeles, early risers might catch sight of a 6' 7" Slovenian riding between Manhattan Beach and Hermosa. In late August, Dončić skids his bike to a stop on an empty blacktop. He had been here before. Or had he? These days Dončić doesn’t venture into the city center too often. “Too many tourists,” Dončić says. Slovenia, a lush, green country that looks like it was pulled from a van Gogh painting, has a population of around two million. Seven million tourists flow through each year, most to the capital, Ljubljana.

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