Luka Doncic lays out the red carpet for Shaquille O’Neal in Slovenia: “They took me to a mansion”
The Dallas Mavericks point guard paid for a mansion with all kinds of luxuries for the former NBA player, who had to perform later in Croatia.
Luka Doncic has become an authentic true star in the NBA even though he has spent just four seasons on the other side of the pond. In Europe, and especially as far as Real Madrid are concerned, he’s a legend. In the United States, he has been among the firm candidates to win the MVP during the past few seasons, and many celebrities have not hesitated to ‘get on board’.
The latest person to talk about him was Shaquille O’Neal who, after retiring from the NBA and entering the Hall of Fame, decided to turn to the world of music as a DJ under the nickname DJ Diesel. Shaq’s new career even earned him a slot at electronic dance festival Tomorrowland, staged in Boom, Belgium.
That was not his only stop on the continent this summer - he also visited Doncic’s hometown, Ljubljana, whilst on his way to Croatia for another DJ set. He could be seen on stage with the Dallas Mavericks guard, and also with new Chicago Bulls player, Goran Dragic. He spoke of his adventure in the podcast The Big Podcast with Shaq’ and about how hospitable and welcoming the Slovenian star was.
A mansion instead of a hotel
Doncic thought of everything so that Shaq’s visit went smoothly and was a happy experience - even paying out of his own pocket for him: “I was in Croatia, with my main man Goran Dragic and Luka Doncic came up with me. Hey, a shout out to Luka. When I arrived in Luka’s town, some people picked me up and drove me to a mansion that Luka had set up for me. I had pizza there, a hookah there, I had fruit... He escorted me to the show. They said, they’re friends of Luka and Luka says, “Shaq, ain’t nothing gonna happen to you while you’re in my town, Mr O’Nealovic - because that’s what they called me the whole time,’” Shaq began.
“I got there and they said and Luka said, ‘We know you were going to stay in a hotel, but he wants you to stay at some place he has for you.’ It was right there on the water, a four-bedroom villa. He had that Blue Mist hookah with him,” added the former Los Angeles Lakers player.
As a way of thanking them, DJ Diesel put Doncic and Dragic on the guest list for his show in Croatia. Both NBA stars were presented to the crowd and joined with a special, basketball-themed dance move as Diesel manned the decks.
DJ Diesel’s European tour took in seven different cities and while he got a warm welcome wherever he went, none was quite as special as what Doncic laid on for him in his hometown.