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Celtics Rookie Names Luka Doncic Without Hesitation in Response to NBA Question

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt John | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 10:07 PM ET

Luka Doncic has become one of the NBA's best players since entering the league in 2018. He has made five All-Star teams and five first All-NBA teams. An injury-plagued season prevented him from making a sixth All-Star team and a sixth All-NBA team last season.

The Los Angeles Lakers star's professional basketball career started before the Dallas Mavericks drafted him in 2018. He started playing professionally in 2015 for Real Madrid, where he played for three years before declaring for the NBA Draft.

During his time at Real Madrid, Doncic created quite a resume. He was a Euroleague champion and MVP, made the All-EuroLeague first team, was a two-time EuroLeague Rising Star, and even made the EuroLeague 2010-2020 All-Decade team, among other accolades.

He clearly created quite a legacy with Real Madrid, and now he'll go up against a fellow Real Madrid alum when he plays against the Boston Celtics next season: Hugo Gonzalez. Gonzalez himself revealed that he's looking forward to playing against Doncic.

Gonzalez, who never played with Doncic but played for Real Madrid from 2022 to 2025 before he joined Boston, revealed that Doncic was who he was looking forward to playing against when he starts his NBA career in the fall, in an interview posted by the Celtics' official X account.

you asked we got the answers

Get to know @hugoglezz_ with our Rookie Rapid-fire Q&A pic.twitter.com/MxBJfnghig
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 20, 2025

Besides Doncic and Gonzalez, the only other current NBA player who previously played for Real Madrid was former Celtics first-round pick Guerschon Yabusele. He played for Real Madrid from 2021 to 2024 before returning to the NBA to play for the Philadelphia 76ers.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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