section_path: Early life
section_name: Early life
paragraph_text: Early life
  
  Dončić was born in Ljubljana to Mirjam Poterbin, an owner of beauty salons, and Saša Dončić, a basketball coach and former player. His mother is Slovenian, and his father is a Slovenian of Serbian descent from Kosovo. His parents filed for divorce in 2008, with custody and legal guardianship granted to his mother.
  
  According to his family, Dončić first touched a basketball when he was seven months old and frequently played with a miniature hoop in his room by age one. Dončić played various sports in his childhood, including football, which he later quit after growing too tall. At age seven, Dončić began playing organized basketball at a primary school in Ljubljana. His opponents at the time were up to 10 years old, as Dončić reflected: "I was always training and playing with older kids who had much more experience than me. Many of them were bigger and faster than me too, so I had to beat them with my brain." Dončić admired Greek basketball player Vassilis Spanoulis from his early teenage years, stating that he was "enchanted" by him. Dončić wore the number 7 at Real Madrid in honor of Spanoulis. Dončić also grew up admiring the American basketball player LeBron James.
  
  Dončić was born in Ljubljana to Mirjam Poterbin, an owner of beauty salons, and Saša Dončić, a basketball coach and former player. His mother is Slovenian, and his father is a Slovenian of Serbian descent from Kosovo. His parents filed for divorce in 2008, with custody and legal guardianship granted to his mother.
  
  According to his family, Dončić first touched a basketball when he was seven months old and frequently played with a miniature hoop in his room by age one. Dončić played various sports in his childhood, including football, which he later quit after growing too tall. At age seven, Dončić began playing organized basketball at a primary school in Ljubljana. His opponents at the time were up to 10 years old, as Dončić reflected: "I was always training and playing with older kids who had much more experience than me. Many of them were bigger and faster than me too, so I had to beat them with my brain." Dončić admired Greek basketball player Vassilis Spanoulis from his early teenage years, stating that he was "enchanted" by him. Dončić wore the number 7 at Real Madrid in honor of Spanoulis. Dončić also grew up admiring the American basketball player LeBron James.