Lakers star guard Luka Dončić was performing on the court despite his personal life being in turmoil last season.
Dončić had a very public breakup with his ex-fiancée, Anamaria Goltes, which includes a custody battle for their two daughters.
As all of this was playing out, Dončić’s daughters, Gabriela and Olivia, were living in Slovenia with Goltes, which meant the Lakers star was unable to see them for almost the entire season, aside from when he returned to Slovenia to witness his second daughter’s birth in December.
Dončić was interviewed by Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix in Slovenia, which was released on Thursday. He made a painful declaration about his family situation at one point in their conversation.
“Obviously, I had a lot on my mind the last year. I think this year, I spent the whole summer with my daughters, which was amazing for me. I was very happy just to be with them,” Dončić said.
He was then asked about how hard it was to deal with the entire family situation from last year.
“Yeah, it was pretty hard. I didn’t see them almost the whole season. Yeah, I can’t go another season like that,” Dončić replied.
“You want to spend time with your kids every day. So, last season was pretty hard. I saw them for five days in the whole season, which is impossible to do. But you know, I had to focus on basketball.”
Dončić filed a “Hague Convention” petition to have his daughters brought from Slovenia to the United States last week.
If it’s granted, the 27-year-old won’t have to worry about going so long between seeing his daughters. If it isn’t, Dončić must find another means of seeing his daughters because he clearly isn’t willing to endure the same situation he had last year.
