Fans inside Movistar Arena in Madrid, Spain got a surprise on Thursday during a regular season EuroLeague basketball game.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic sat courtside alongside Novak Djokovic, the most decorated men’s tennis player in history. The two icons received standing ovations from the crowd.
They were there to watch Real Madrid take on Red Star Belgrade, but for the fans, seeing Doncic, who played for Real Madrid as a teenager from 2015 to 2018, it was like watching Michael Jordan walk into the Dean E. Smith Center for a UNC basketball game.
Doncic flew to Spain for treatment after he suffered a grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2 in Oklahoma City. He’s expected to return to Los Angeles on Friday, on the eve of the Lakers first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets.
Doncic received good news on Thursday morning when the NBA ruled in favor of his appeal for an “Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge” after falling short of the league’s mandatory 65-game threshold to be eligible for postseason awards.
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Doncic finished with 64 games played after suffering his hamstring injury, but appealed for the extraordinary circumstances exception because he missed two games in December for the birth of his child in Slovenia. The NBA ruled in his favor, and Doncic is eligible for postseason awards like MVP and All-NBA team.
Doncic released a statement on X and Instagram following the announcement from the league.
Doncic and Djokovic are good friends with the Serbian tennis player even coming to Los Angeles to watch the Slovenian superstar at Crypto.com Arena for a game at the end of February.
He even attended Doncic’s birthday party later that night.