Video taking off 17x its usual first day

A childhood court in Savsko Naselje and golf at Royal Bled: Luka Dončić at home

Sports Illustrated's Ljubljana film follows him from the court where he played until dark to a bracelet from one of his daughters that he says stays on.

Channel:

Sports Illustrated Story of October 9, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 90,875 views a day, 17 times a normal first day on this channel (5,348).

Luka Dončić Opens Up About His Daughters, Reveals Lakers Consult Him on Roster Moves & Talks LeBron

A longer Sports Illustrated video usually opens with around 5,000 views on its first day. The Luka Dončić film had passed 70,000 within 15 hours, and its comment section was already several times busier than a whole usual first day.

The twenty-minute piece is less a press conference than a walk through Ljubljana. Dončić goes back to the outdoor court in Savsko Naselje, the neighborhood where he grew up, and remembers staying out there until it got dark. He retraces the move to Real Madrid at 13. Then he brings his new Lakers teammates to Slovenia for some rowing, an afternoon at the Royal Bled Golf Course and a drive through the city in one of his cars.

Golf turns out to be more than a team outing. "In three, four hours outside, just then forget about things," he says, and he ties the game to a hard stretch of time away from his daughters. One of them made the bracelet he wears. "She made me this and I'm not taking it off."

The film ends on Mamba Day, Kobe Bryant's day, with Dončić and his teammates carrying gifts into Ljubljana's maternity hospital on Šlajmerjeva ulica.

In the comments, many viewers are talking about the season ahead and an MVP award. Others came away from the Madrid chapter asking how a teenager settled into a Spanish-speaking dressing room so far from home.

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in American sports leagues and mediaVideo taking off 10x its usual first dayStephen A. Smith tests Schottenheimer's definition of a "great coach"First Take turns a Cowboys press-conference declaration into a debate about results, with school grades and speed limits supplying the punchlines.Channel: NFL on ESPN · Story of October 24, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

What viewers say

What a wholesome dude. Hope he gets his flowers this season
@bobbychivescuSee it on YouTube
Can we talk about how Luka DIDN'T SPEAK SPANISH when he moved to Madrid? Dude is just crazy smart, being able to lead a team when you don't know what they're saying.
@acpspifferSee it on YouTube
new gen goat, ill never forget when i woke up to him being a laker, was already a huge LUKA fan
@tcminnis4707See it on YouTube

6 more comments

The real face of the NBA
@Noname00877See it on YouTube
Luka Lakeshow will be great this season!!!
@ChiefGoat1893See it on YouTube
It’s still amazingly unbelievable that Luka is a Laker!
@ColdJelly19See it on YouTube
Amazing behind the scenes video with our team's leader Luka Dončić. Great work Sports Illustrated! #LakersNation 💜💛
@CarpeDiemXXVISee it on YouTube
Lets go Purple and Gold
@hardstyle8184See it on YouTube
My Goat, Luka Doncic🤩
@wandasta4099See it on YouTube