00:03Growing up in Slovenia, Luka always had dreams of playing in the NBA.
00:08He watched the NBA religiously, on television, on YouTube.
00:12He was obsessed with basketball.
00:15His three all-time favorite players were MJ, Kobe, and LeBron.
00:19And although he's had numerous opportunities to talk to and play against LeBron,
00:24his interactions with MJ and Kobe were few and far between, especially with Kobe.
00:30Who's no longer with us.
00:32In this video, we're gonna take a look at his first interactions with Kobe and MJ.
00:37And how did they perceive Luka in the beginning?
00:40What did they think of him?
00:42I'm gonna cover the first few times they interacted with each other and how it turned out.
00:47How's going folks? My name's Andy and without further ado, let's begin.
00:53The first time Luka met Kobe was on August 30th, 2018.
00:57Now, this encounter wasn't anything special.
01:01In fact, nobody really knows what happened in this meeting.
01:04The 19-year-old met Kobe at a Nike event, as even then, Luka was sponsored by Nike.
01:11Presumably, Kobe gave him some tips and they simply talked about basketball for a while,
01:15before going their separate ways.
01:18However, over a year later, we would finally see them interact again.
01:22This was the first time they met in public.
01:25Luka just had an impressive rookie season and as a sophomore, he progressed even further.
01:32In late December of 2019, the Mavs played a game in Los Angeles and during the game,
01:38he heard somebody in the crowd yelling at him and trash-talking him.
01:43Luka has heard his fair share of rowdy fans before, but this guy was pestering him in his own language.
01:50It caught his attention, so he turned around and, lo and behold, he saw Kobe.
01:56Yes, it was Kobe.
01:58Like every tried-and-true former Lakers player, he was, of course, a Lakers fan after his retirement.
02:04And as someone who's known to be an extraordinary linguist,
02:07Kobe learned to speak some Slovenian just to trash-talk Luka from the sidelines.
02:13I love the moment you had on the sidelines with Kobe Bryant.
02:17So Doncic, a fan is heckling him and he looks to see who it is, and it's Kobe Bryant.
02:22When Rachel Nichols asked him what Kobe really said, Luka replied,
02:27And he talked a little trash to you.
02:29I understand he was actually talking in Slovenian, is that right?
02:31Yeah.
02:32What did he say?
02:33Ah, I can't say that.
02:36I can't say that.
02:37Too many curse words or what?
02:39I assume Kobe was probably yelling some curse words or other derogatory terms he just learned.
02:44It surprised Luka, and he was shocked when he turned around to see Kobe was the one yelling at him.
02:49Of course, it was all for fun, though.
02:51Nothing serious.
02:53Unfortunately, little did he know, this would be his last time seeing him.
02:58One month later, Kobe, along with eight other people, including his daughter Gianna,
03:03passed away in a horrific helicopter accident.
03:07Kobe's death struck everyone, and Luka especially.
03:12One day after his death, Luka wore a pair of Kobe shoes with the names of all nine victims in
03:17the crash.
03:19He meant a lot to him.
03:21In the early days of coming to America and joining the league, Kobe helped him a lot with his transition.
03:26And Luka revealed after his death that they would text each other very frequently.
03:30Whenever Luka had an off night or went through struggles on the court,
03:35Kobe would not hesitate to reach out and give him some words of advice.
03:39Their relationship was still in the beginning stages, and it was blossoming.
03:43It's sad to see they just had one public interaction with each other.
03:47If Luka's last memory of Kobe was him trash-talking him from the sidelines in Slovenian,
03:52that's definitely a memory he'll never forget.
03:57Now, how did his first interaction with MJ go?
04:00Well, Luka has actually been on Jordan's radar for a very long time.
04:06He's been part of the Nike family for a while.
04:08As early as 2017, when he was still playing in Europe,
04:12multiple Nike agents reached out to him,
04:14and they eventually signed him to a two-year deal.
04:18After that contract expired, and after a highly successful rookie season,
04:23Jordan personally reached out to Luka to sign him to his very own Air Jordan brand,
04:28a subsidiary of Nike.
04:30Now, keep in mind, this was very rare for Jordan to do.
04:34When he adds people to his brand,
04:36they're usually more established and more proven NBA talents.
04:40There's been exceptions in recent years, though,
04:43with Luka and later on, Zion Williamson.
04:45Not only that, but he rarely, if ever, compliments young players,
04:50especially rookies.
04:51Luka was another exception to that.
04:54It was clear right from the start that Jordan had his eyes on him,
04:58and he knew that Luka would be the next great NBA megastar.
05:02He was right.
05:04When Luka found out Jordan was interested in signing him,
05:07he became all giddy, he jumped on board right away,
05:10and then explained why he was so excited.
05:14Growing up in Slovenia and all over Europe,
05:16everyone knows about Air Jordans because of the impact
05:19Michael Jordan has had all over the world.
05:22Sneaker culture has always been a big thing for me,
05:24and it only seems to be getting bigger.
05:26Air Jordans are always at the forefront of that.
05:29For me, when I knew Jordan brand was interested,
05:32I was really excited.
05:33It's a brand with an amazing history.
05:35The more I learned about their plans and how much they believe in me,
05:39it became an easy decision.
05:42However, the thing is, up until this point,
05:44despite signing with the Jordan brand,
05:46Luka still hasn't met Jordan himself in real life.
05:50He's talked to him through different agents and managers,
05:53but he's never met him face-to-face before.
05:56That would change by the 2020 NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.
06:00Luka and MJ planned to meet each other during that All-Star weekend,
06:04and Luka was super excited, but also very nervous.
06:09He knows MJ spoke highly of him before.
06:12Shortly after he signed with Jordan's brand,
06:14MJ released a statement saying,
06:17Luka is a phenomenal player and at such a young age.
06:20He's demonstrating skill it takes many guys years to develop.
06:24It will be incredible to watch him continue to advance in the league.
06:28But when you're about to meet the GOAT face-to-face,
06:32it sent shivers down his spine.
06:33When the time finally came, Luka met him.
06:37In a small meeting room in Chicago,
06:39they talked about his plans to expand his brand,
06:42and MJ further praised how great he's been.
06:45However, Luka was so starstruck throughout the entire All-Star weekend
06:49from meeting all the other NBA All-Stars,
06:52but meeting MJ was something else.
06:54In fact, Luka said that talking to him was amazing,
06:58but he was so nervous that he forgot to ask him for a photo.
07:02The two of them have a great relationship,
07:04and MJ is super happy to have Luka on board,
07:07representing his brand.
07:10Unfortunately, while we won't see any more interactions with him and Kobe,
07:13for Luka and MJ,
07:15they're going to have a long-lasting friendship and similar business interests.
07:19Luka is thankful for MJ being one of the first people to reach out to him
07:24even before he joined the NBA,
07:26way before he was even a recognized name in America.
07:30Jordan was always a believer in Luka way before anyone else was,
07:34and even mentioned that he was going to be the best player of his draft class,
07:38despite some teams passing up on him.
07:41Hey, maybe if the Hornets had the number one pick that year,
07:44Jordan would finally make a good draft choice for once.
07:48Anyway, that's all, folks.
07:49That sums up all of Luka's interactions with Kobe and Jordan so far.
07:54It was a dream come true for him to meet his heroes,
07:56and they were both very supportive.
07:59We hear a lot of times where older superstars like to pick on the young guys
08:03and say they couldn't handle playing in the older eras,
08:05but none of them have said that about Luka,
08:08and nobody should ever say that.
08:10Thank you all so much for watching.
08:12I hope y'all enjoy the video.
08:14And of course, as always, I'll see you next time.
08:17Peace.
08:18Peace.
08:20Peace.
08:23Peace.
08:25Peace.
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