All language subtitles for Mind The Game S02E09.en-us.Dialog.Sdh

-Mind the Game.
-Man.

Star-studded cast today.

[LeBron] Cheers, brother.

[Steve] We're happy to welcome
the great Luka Dončić.

-Thank you.
-[Steve] What a pleasure.

Big-time pleasure

to have the Don on
to speak about multiple topics.

Multiple topics.

The most important, I think,
is everyone wants to know, like,

what's your take on the season finale
of White Lotus?

What was that?
What'd you say?

[laughter]

I'm just kidding.
Never mind. Never mind.

[upbeat bluesy music playing]

Welcome to Mind the Game,

presented by Uninterrupted and Wondery.

In this episode, we're thrilled
to be joined by Luka Dončić.

We cover a bunch of topics,

starting with his move to Los Angeles,

playing with one of his idols,
LeBron James,

and also his work
with the Luka Dončić Foundation

and the commissioned study he's provided

of developing youth basketball players
in Europe versus the United States.

Stick around to the end of the episode,
where I'll talk a little bit more

about why I'm on Luka's
athletes' council,

why it's important to me,

and how we can all help improve
the landscape in youth basketball.

So thanks for watching. Please enjoy,
and we look forward to this episode.

[upbeat bluesy music playing]

Honestly, this is amazing to have you.

-Appreciate it.
-It's usually just the two of us.

But we reserved a third spot
for the main man, and…

You know, really, I think it'd be unfair
for the audience

if we didn't ask you off the bat
what it's like playing together.

How you feel playing with LeBron.

I know you looked up to him as a kid,
and now you guys are teammates.

I mean, it's great.

You see, I've never played
with a guy like this.

You know, just being
traded to here, to L.A.

It was different just to play
with guys like him.

Like, it's unbelievable.
Like, I learn so many stuff.

You know, first of all, off the court.

You know, all the things he does
just to be ready for the game.

And obviously on the court,
everybody knows what kind of player he is.

What-- Like, give me an example
of a couple things you've seen,

like, being around him every day
where you're like, "He does that?"

Like, "What's he doing over there?"

Is there anything that stands out
initially where you're like, "Wow"?

First of all, he shows up
like ten hours before the game.

So that was really the main--
Like, I was, "What?"

I came into the arena--

For 22 years.

He was already done working out.
I was like, "What?"

Yeah. And then what about
playing together?

Like, you guys are so similar.

You know, obviously different stages
of your career,

but you're so similar
the way you see the game,

the way you process the game,
the way you can…

You know, abuse bigger defenders.

You can bully smaller defenders.

You're both computers,
the way you read the game.

Has it been fun to see someone
that you understand the way he thinks

and to be able to play off each other?

-You didn't mention the bounce.
-The bounce? Oh, the-- yeah.

-The jump? Yeah.
-Minus the bounce.

Minus the bounce.

A lot of similarities.

No, it's been great. But just…

I still think it's a work in progress.

I don't know, when we two
are out there-- and A.R.

You know, he's been playing unbelievable.

I think it's just a work in progress,
you know.

I think we're getting
better and better every day.

I mean, I think you saw today
against OKC.

You know, it's hard to win here.

Number one team in the West
for a reason.

We just, you know, we share the ball.
Everybody was getting open shots.

So it still is a work in progress,
but we're getting better every day.

It was interesting, I'd noticed OKC,
so handsy, athletic.

You know, they speed people up.
They can't speed him up.

Like, what's your take?

-What are you saying, you have no speed?
-No speed. Just don't show it.

[Steve]
But you handle all that pressure,

and then you can dissect the team.

Once that pressure breaks,
now you're playing your game.

You notice sometimes when he's able
to just calm things down

and take charge?

No, like you said, I mean,
it's always his pace.

And it's always been his pace, you know?

It's never been a game be like,
okay, well, you can speed me up,

he can speed me up.

Okay, this bigger guy
can be more physical.

This smaller guy can get underneath me.

It's like, he moves at his own pace

and he's never, ever been on the floor

where he's allowed someone to dictate
where they're gonna put him on the floor.

-It's always been the opposite, you know?
-Yeah.

And for us, we all working off of that.
We just gotta stay ready.

You know, obviously we've seen
throughout his career,

like, if there's plays and passes
that certain guys in the league history

have ever been able to make, you know?

And for us, we all just have to make sure
that we continue to stay ready,

especially when you're going
against handsy teams, athletic teams,

teams that try to speed you up.

We always have to keep our head
on a swivel 'cause you just never know.

You just never know
when the ball may find you.

And that's a good thing.
That's keeping the defense off-balance.

That's a great thing to have.

Yeah, you know, it's a great point.
One of the--

Like, you guys are both
incredible passers.

One of the things about your passing game
that I always really admire

is the late pass.

Like, did you do that as a kid,

or is that something you developed?

But it's like it's almost over,

and then you go, like, almost 180
behind you to someone for three.

Where did that come from?
Is that something you always did?

-Or it developed in time?
-I think it developed during time.

I don't think I did that as a kid.

I'd remember that.

We just, you know, what I always said
to my teammates, you know,

"Once I go up, stay in your spot
because I know where you were before.

And then if I don't have any option,
I'll pass it to you."

-Yeah.
-I think it…

through time,
I don't think I did it as a kid.

But it's brilliant.
You've made every pass.

And you obviously pass over people.

But it's great because the natural…

kind of thinking of a defender

is when you leave your feet
as they kind of turn and they think,

"My guy's out of the play.
I got to get ready to either rotate or…"

Rebound or crash.

They've come in a little bit,
and the ball's going over there.

They can't get back out.

So, you know… but you can't do that
without the vision,

but also with your size.

I couldn't-- I could make late passes,
but my--

You know, my matrix
in late passes was limited.

You know what I mean?

So you're able to make that high one
over the top of the defense,

catch them sleeping when they already
think the play's over for them.

So that's something
I really admire about your game

'cause not a lot of people can do that.

I think that was due in time,
just part of when I got to the NBA.

[Steve] Yeah, not at Madrid?

I mean, probably some, but…

[Steve] Not like this.
You know what I wanted to ask you?

Switching gears a little bit, is…

you come from a small country.

-Yeah.
-[Steve] Beautiful country.

I went this summer.

We were at the Goran Dragić
retirement camp.

How'd I look out there on the court?

-Mmm… pretty bad.
-The soccer team was better.

The soccer game was better?

-'Cause it was a small court.
-[laughs] Small--

Yeah, that's true.
But it's a beautiful country.

-Two million people?
-Two million people.

Which makes it incredible
they won the European Championship.

Him and Gogi, and obviously everybody,
but you two leading the charge.

Um…

You now live in Los Angeles.

How was that for you?

Like, the day you find out-- You know,
a city that's bigger than your country.

Southern California's
like 30 million people.

-It's overpopulated.
-Right.

Like, how was that for you culturally
to all of a sudden be like,

"Oh, man, I live in one of the biggest
cities in the world"?

Well, first of all, like,
this is the first city I played in

that has an ocean,
and I really like the ocean.

-So that was--
-That was nice.

First thing. I mean, after a couple days,
that was the first thing on my mind.

It's… I like it.

I like it very much.

-The only-- The only thing is the traffic.
-The traffic.

It's the fucking traffic.

But you're also-- You're quiet.
You're unassuming.

Like, you're like,
it's Hollywood out there.

Does that take an adjustment or are you
like, "That part doesn't bother me"?

No, not really. But, like, there is…

Every time there's famous people
watching our game, sitting courtside,

that's-- I mean, that's amazing to see.

But not really, not that much.

At first I asked a couple of questions,
like, "Are you adjusting?"

"I'm adjusting. I like the beach."

-Yeah.
-That's the first thing he said.

"I like the beach."

-That made it feel okay.
-I gotta go fishing.

-But it's a different pace of life.
-Yeah.

-A little bit. The traffic, like you said.
-And I like to drive.

You like to drive.

Have you gone-- Have you
driven outside of L.A. at all yet?

-What do you mean?
-Like, so for example,

I think it's… What's cool about L.A.--

We think about L.A. as a big city,

but within an hour and a half,
two hours…

-Santa Barbara.
-You go Santa Barbara.

San Diego, you know?

Yeah.

-You could go into the mountains.
-[LeBron] Yeah. Orange County.

-Orange County. Go all over the place.
-Malibu.

Malibu. There's a million places to go
within two hours, right?

Ojai, or all over the place.

-So, you know, you like to drive?
-Yeah.

But I didn't try…

The first-- The first place I would try
was Santa Barbara.

'Cause that was during-- when I was
17 or something like that, I went to…

-P3?
-Yeah, P3.

So, I really liked that. It was peaceful.

-The beach.
-Yeah, beach.

[Steve] Quiet.

Some real wine out there too.

-Great restaurants.
-[Steve] Wine valley.

It's a bit more like Slovenia.

Yeah, but I wasn't allowed to drink at 17,
so I don't know.

In Slovenia, yeah.

-[all laugh]
-Eighteen.

You make up for it.

[upbeat bluesy music playing]

Well, one of the things that I really want
to talk about tonight

is youth basketball development.

-Mm-hmm.
-We've all gone through it.

We've all had to build ourselves up
as players.

-You now have two sons.
-Yeah.

One who's gone through it,
the other who's right in the middle.

Um, you grew up in Europe.

You know, I grew up in Canada.

It always fascinates me

how people develop, and what systems.

And so your foundation,
the Luka Dončić Foundation,

has obviously made this incredible study.

You commissioned a study
called Inside Youth Basketball.

Like, 300-something pages where,
for a month,

they studied how people are trained
and grow up playing the game in Europe

versus how they're trained
and playing the game in the U.S.,

and tried to find out
as many things as possible

-to help kids get better.
-Yeah.

What inspired this for you?

I think just seeing kids not…
pulling out of sports these days.

You know, more and more kids
are pulling out of sports.

Just probably they don't have as much fun
as I did when I grew up,

so that's why we have a study
in America and a study in Europe.

So we're trying to combine the weaknesses
and the strength together.

So, you know, the main thing was just
kids to have fun playing basketball,

especially when you're young.

You want to have fun,
not think about anything.

Just go out there and have fun.

So, there's been a study that claims
that 70% of kids

quit youth sports by the time they're 13

because basically
the joy is pushed out of it.

Too much pressure, not enough fun.

Um…

I'd love to know about your childhood,
both of you.

How did you fall in love with basketball?

Well, for me, I wasn't good
at any other sports, except soccer.

-You're okay.
-Not like you, but…

-I've seen your first touch.
-Not like you, but, you know…

-But I've also seen you hit a tennis ball.
-Yeah, I was playing a lot of sports.

Tennis, soccer and basketball
were the main ones.

I played volleyball, I played…

So, for me, it was fun just to do sports.

And then I went outside.

You know, after school
I went outside every time.

Every day. Playing hoops from a young age,
or playing anything?

-Anything. Mostly basketball.
-[Steve] Yeah.

Because your dad Saša was EuroLeague.
Played in the EuroLeague.

Great player.

-So, obviously--
-He was okay.

-He was okay? All right.
-[laughs]

Just making sure.

But, I mean, but that's also--

Like, my dad was a soccer player,

so I grew up playing in the backyard,
playing soccer.

-It must have had an influence on you.
-[Luka] Yeah, for sure.

Like, I went to his games.
You know, I was…

Well, I started being ball boy.

I was allowed to ball boy
in EuroLeague games.

I was ball boy for Olympija.

So that's how I used my time
to just get on basketball.

They let us in before the game,
halftime and after game.

I was just shooting.

What about you? When was
the moment basketball come into your life

-and you were like "I love this"?
-Yeah. Um…

I mean, I don't know the exact moment,
but, you know,

I think I was able to watch it.

You know, when I got to see
some of the greatest that played the game,

I was inspired by them.

Like, I was inspired by MJ
and, you know,

inspired by Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway
and Grant Hill and those guys.

Um, like, their sneakers inspired me.

The commercials they used to do
back then inspired me.

And then, um, you know,
just being outside.

You know, I was always the kid
that just wanted to play.

Whatever it was. We was playing tag.

We was playing football.
We was playing baseball.

We was playing football
and basketball.

-You played everything.
-[LeBron] Kickball.

That was very popular in my community.

Just running around and just exerting
as much energy as possible,

till the lights, you know,
in the street came on

and it was time to get in the house.

I just wanted to do whatever.
And then…

I think once I got into, like…

um…

you know, the youth leagues
where it started being competitive,

I actually loved the competitive nature
of basketball.

You know, being out there five on five,

and we were playing for something.

We were playing to see who could score
the most points and win the game.

You know, and then ultimately
it got to, like,

oh, if we win the majority of the games,
we can win something.

We have a banquet and have medals
and little trophies.

Like, that stuff inspired me

'cause I watched NBA guys
and college guys.

At the end of the season,
they get to hoist the trophy or whatever.

I thought that was pretty inspiring.

So, as a kid, you're just always inspired
by the ones that's already doing it.

You know, I think that was a big moment
for me, for sure.

It's funny you said the commercials.

I didn't really start playing hoops
till I was about 13.

Playing hockey, soccer,
baseball, lacrosse.

You're good at soccer and tennis.
I saw you.

You know…

-You still play tennis.
-Say it a little louder?

Yeah, you still play tennis. Yeah.

He's good.

Still love to play.

That's the kid in me
that never goes away, right?

Like, I still just want
to be out there playing.

It brings up like a…

I was gonna say when I was 13,

what got me into basketball
was Michael Jordan.

The first Air Jordan shoes.
Commercials with Spike Lee.

Like you were saying,
that stuff inspires you as a young kid.

It's a fun time to get into the game.

But what I heard from both of you
that I think is really important is

you played informally.

-Yeah, for sure.
-You were playing on the playground.

You were playing in the street,
playing all the time informally.

And it leads me to a topic here
that I think the study really highlights,

is that, you know,
especially in the United States,

sports, youth sports
has been commercialized.

-Mm-hmm.
-Yeah.

Youth sports. So, like,
this is my way of explaining it.

When I grew up, you'd play
soccer and hockey in the winter.

You play baseball,
box lacrosse in the summer.

And it costs you like a hundred bucks
a season for each sport.

Well, somebody, some entrepreneur,

someone says, "Well, I need to make
a business of this,"

said, "Well, if I can sell the dream
to the family,

that little Sarah or Johnny,

you know, they might have a chance
to go somewhere with this,

but they got to commit
to this sport for the year."

Yeah, that's the worst.
That's the worst thing you can do.

[Steve] Right? So what happens is,
now the parents are involved.

-There's a system.
-[LeBron] Mm-hmm.

They're not playing informally.

You know, it leads to personal trainers,

-strength and conditioning coaches.
-Yeah.

Like, trying to unpack that
and rewind it is, like…

Now we don't-- Like, how many times
you drive by a park now

and see kids playing basketball?

-Very rare.
-Not much.

Your boy's just come through
the whole system.

Do they go to the park
and play with their friends?

Very rarely.

-[Steve] Yeah.
-Very rarely, you know, um…

You know, they did play outside
a little bit, but mostly it's indoors.

-In programs.
-Yeah, in programs.

And they lived, you know,
for the majority of the time,

my kids, growing up,
lived in South Florida

and lived in Southern California.

So, you know, there was
no reason for them not to be outside.

You know, I get it if they,
majority of the time,

grew up in Northeast Ohio,

where you have four seasons
and it's hard to get on an outdoor court

where it's six inches of snow,
or it's raining crazy.

It's just not the thing.
And like you said, I think…

not allowing kids to just go out
and just, you know, explore all sports.

Basketball, football, soccer,
lacrosse, track and field.

Like me and my guys,
we ran track and field as well.

We were like super-duper young, you know.

We played football all the way--
American football--

all the way through high school, you know?

Um, we didn't just cap it at one thing,
just did one thing all year round.

And I think a lot of kids burn--

-They burn the hell out.
-Burn out.

You just tell them, okay,
I'm gonna just do this one all year round.

I'm just gonna play basketball,
or just play volleyball,

or just play soccer all year round.

You burn out, you know, at 22, 23, 24

-because you've just been doing it--
-Or younger.

-Or younger.
-Thirteen, 70%.

You know, "The hell with it. I'm done.
I don't want to play no more."

You know, so I don't think putting a cap
on these kids being able to--

They should be able to explore.

Do they still play on the playground
in Slovenia?

Not much.

[Steve] Even there,
it's still more programmed now.

It's fascinating to me
because I think, like,

what happens is,
that's where we develop the joy,

is playing with your friends.

Not a coach telling you what to do.

It's trial and error.

And it's like on the playground,

you're allowed to make mistakes
and nobody's gonna say anything.

I think that's, like,
one of the main points too.

[Steve] And that's where you, like…

I think every generation
learns from the one before.

But you also learn from the playground
trial and error.

-[LeBron] Yeah.
-You go and play, you try stuff.

It doesn't work.
No one says, "Don't do that."

Like, you know, late passes,
that develops.

You know, things you did at your size
that nobody did,

they didn't do if you weren't
handling the ball.

You had a coach saying, "You're our four"
from the time you're 10 years old.

Yeah. I mean, I didn't
have a basketball trainer

until second, third,
maybe fourth year in the NBA.

-Right.
-Like, my basketball training

was just being on the court.

Let's just go hoop. Let's go hoop.

Let's five on five, or two on two,
or three on three.

Like, a game that we played
when I was growing up

was called "33 or 21."

You know,
basically it's one man for himself,

and you could be guarded
by all your friends.

And if I score, I go to the free throw
line and I shoot two free throws.

-Get him back.
-And I get it back.

And that's how a lot of creation
started with me,

being able to dribble
around three or four guys

going behind the bag.

You know, getting physical
with your friends.

Like, you know, so…

Yeah, it just definitely
helped me out a lot.

Let me ask you--
Let me pose this for you.

So you're out there trying to get between
two, three, four guys at your size,

your size, or even my size.

What is more joyful?

Where do you learn--

We learn a lot faster
through trial and error.

Or a coach saying, "Here's the cones.
I want you to cross over, spin."

-Like, that's gone for our kids, in a way.
-Yeah.

We don't get that time to just play,
to try things, to make mistakes,

to play weird games.

Right? Like, you would never go
to a skills coach right now

and he'd be like, "All right, guys, 21."

-No.
-Right? You know what I mean?

We got a program,
we're gonna try to teach them--

And so what happens is the joy,
the creativity comes out of the game.

That's why you get kids
quitting at 13, right?

Like, did you ever have that?

Did you ever have skills coaches
when you were growing up in Slovenia?

-Or just your coach?
-Not really, just my coach.

-It's crazy.
-I don't think, like, skilled coaches…

You know, I was born
in 19 something-something…

[laughs]

…'99.

[Steve] I mean, but like…

It's the '90s.

-Barely.
-Oh, my God.

Born in '99, that's crazy.

I just got instantly sleepy
when he said he was born in 1999.

I was your age in '99.

-That's crazy.
-You notice the grays, but…

But it is, uh…

It's-- Not everything's bad.

I'm not here to say that everything's bad.

Some things get better
and better and better.

We know more about the body.

We know more about
a lot of things nowadays.

But I do think that the commercialization
has really made it less joyful,

less creative.

And then you don't have
the social aspect as much.

You know, it's like the pressure
the system puts on a parent.

"I can't take this away from my kid.
I got to give him this chance."

Instead of the kid being like,

"I'm going to the park to play,"
or "I'm gonna go in the backyard."

And so I think it makes it complicated.

You know, I don't know how we kind of
add that piece back into this puzzle

where kids are playing informally.

I don't know, like maybe this is
what you're gonna try to do.

That's what we're trying.

Like I say, you know,
the way I grew up

was just going after school,
going to court,

and then go to practice.

So I was just outside a lot.

I even tried the skateboarding.

They built a new skate park
when I was playing basketball.

-Yeah, you got some moves?
-No.

-[laughs]
-I was wearing everything.

It wasn't good. I was too tall for that.

That's amazing.

So what about this project,
Inside Youth Basketball?

Like, how do you see it?

Like, how do you envision
making an impact?

Well, first of all, I think we've got
great people, like yourself.

-Yeah, the athletes' council?
-Yeah.

This is cool.

You know, just like…

We got people that grew up
in different places playing basketball.

So, you grew up in Canada.

Steph grew up in U.S.

Dirk grew up in Germany.
I grew up in Slovenia and Spain.

So we're just trying
to combine everything.

Like, you know, everything together.

See the weaknesses,
see the strengths.

So, just combine everything
and let the kids have fun.

That is the most important part.

Have fun like I had
when I was growing up.

Yeah. That's a great concept.

I mean, how can we put
our heads together and…

Like I said, a lot of what we're doing--

And I'm not trying to disparage
all skills coaches.

-It's just like it's become an economy.
-Yeah.

It's taking away the informal play.

How can be put our heads together
and kind of find a part of the puzzle

that is informal, that isn't pressurized?

So this is what you want to do,
is to help educate coaches' programs,

instill it in different places
around the country.

Yeah, and like I'm saying,

I think it's a lot for the kids, you know,
having all these different kinds.

When I grew up, I didn't have anything.
I just had one coach and that was it.

There was… I think putting
a lot of pressure on kids nowadays

is just about having, like…
try and coach everything.

Right. I think a lot of the problem is,
you know, now with social media,

a lot of our… a lot of people, like--
I can only speak for America

'cause I grew up here and I live here--

a lot of the skills coaches
and trainers

that's involved
in a lot of these kids' lives,

they actually want to be more famous
than the actual kid.

They think they're more important
than the actual kid they're training.

-Their motive is not pure.
-Their motive is not pure.

Like, they want to be on--
in the camera.

They want to be recognized.

They want to talk to the media.

Say, for instance,
I trained Luka for two summers,

and he has a breakout season.

Now they want to do interviews
with people.

-Like, that's not the fucking objective.
-[Steve] Right.

The objective is to be there
trying to help this kid get better.

Try to help this kid, you know,

in the sense of him seeing the game
maybe further than what he did before.

It's not for you now to be famous.

Like, and I think that that also
changed a lot of the landscape,

uh, of kids not knowing
the purity or the essence

and the beauty of the game.

-Yeah.
-You know?

Yeah, you know,
it's tough because I think, for me,

it all stems back
to the commercialization.

-For sure.
-Everything being a business now.

-Everything is monetized.
-Your business as a personal trainer,

or your business as an AAU team,

or now we have NIL,
or whatever it may be.

You know, I think that makes it tough.

Now the parents feel the pressure
of providing this for the kid,

whereas my parents were just like,
"You want to play soccer this year?

Great, you're signed up."
You know what I mean?

And then you go play.

And then in the backyard
you're playing with your friends.

So it starts with that. I think…

Like you said,
you mentioned burnout, right?

We mentioned, you know,
a lot of players

that are now committing
to one sport early.

There's been studies done of NBA players
coming to the league at 19.

Their MRIs don't look the same

because they didn't go
and play football or baseball,

or change the dynamic and have
that creativity, that joy, that fun.

You've had two boys now going through it.

Maybe talk a little bit
about the systemic pressure.

Like, what's that like as a parent
to feel all eyes on these kids

trying to get a scholarship?

Yeah, I mean, for me, as a parent,

and like you said, having my two boys
go through the whole AAU program,

the all-year-round basketball seasons
where it's never a break.

Like, I've made sure that our kids,
and my wife included,

have always taken a break, you know?

So what does that look like? What time
of year, and how do you say it to them?

Well, it usually
takes part in, like, July.

You know, 'cause I remember when I played,

you know, the last tournament
was usually, like,

right before the 4th of July.

That was the last, like, AAU tournament.

And then you didn't play again
until the fall when it cranked back up.

Now, there's tournaments, right?
Fourth of July.

Right after the 4th of July,
there's more tournaments in August.

There's more tournaments
throughout the whole summer.

-There's money to be made.
-Yeah, yeah, absolutely, and I'm--

Myself and Savannah, we're like,
we've told our kids, like,

this is not an all-year-round thing
for you guys.

One, we don't want y'all
to burn the hell out.

And two, there needs to be
some family time involved as well too.

Like, listen, we get it.
We know y'all want to play

or whatever the case may be,
but there needs to be family time as well.

And also, when you get away from things,

it actually makes you even more hungry
to get back to it.

Right.

That's the burnout thing
we was talking about, you know?

It allowed him to come home and…

Okay, now you want to play the video game?
Go ahead, play the video game.

You want to just hang with your friends?
All right, cool.

That's not going anywhere, you know?

But I had an opportunity
to be a part of it for so long

'cause I grew up in that system as well.

I grew up in the AAU system.
I grew up in the tournament system.

I grew up in the program system.

But, I mean, I also grew up
going to Five Star Academy,

you know, where it was all
outdoor basketball all day long.

You know, so I grew up
in that area as well.

Like, and that definitely made us
grow a love.

If you can be outside
on blacktop in the summertime

in 95-degree weather,
and you can actually see the steam

coming up from the blacktop,
and you still love it,

then you already know that's what it is.

You don't need to do that all year round

to know that I love that
if I came back to it.

-Yeah.
-You know?

So, um, I think we did a great job
as far as just making sure, yes,

if this is what you want to do,
you're committed to it, okay, cool.

But also, there's no problem
with just taking a little break here

and coming back to it,
it's no problem at all.

[upbeat bluesy music playing]

I hope you enjoyed that conversation
with Luka Dončić.

Being a part of his athletes' council
or his Inside Youth Basketball study

has been a pleasure for me.

It's something that's
near and dear to my heart.

As someone that fought his way all the way
through a long career of basketball,

it always fascinates me the landscape
that kids have to navigate.

How can we help them
reach for their dreams?

Of course, not all kids
are gonna make the NBA,

but in all sports, kids should have joy,
passion, support, belief,

systems that allow them to learn
the characteristics of teamwork,

collaboration,
learning how to succeed, fail.

Growing up at the appropriate times.

Resilience.

There's so many things
that sport affords us.

And when his study came out
and other studies similar

that have said that 70% of kids

have quit sports by the time of 13

because there's too much pressure
in the system,

there's not enough joy or fun,

not enough childhood involved
in youth sports, it's alarming.

And it's something
that I feel very passionate about

not just from the athlete
development component,

but from developing
the health and wellness of our kids

and our communities.

Sports is such an incredible tool
that offers us

a place to learn, to grow,
to find out who we are,

to make friends, teammates,
to collaborate.

So many gifts that allow us
to succeed in life,

whether it's with our families,
with our careers, jobs.

Dealing and navigating with the adversity
that we all find in life.

These are all things that can really
be developed through sport.

So when I hear kids are quitting sport,

you know, I think it's important
for us to really dig deep

and find out why kids are quitting
and why sport for life is not the goal.

Where joy and passion

and being able to enjoy
the fruits of a childhood

being active, being healthy,
being a teammate,

having core memories around sport

is so important to our communities,
to our families, to our kids.

So I feel honored, one,
to have spoken to Luka deeply

about why he commissioned this study,

why he wants to affect
youth basketball the way he does,

and how we can all
come together and learn,

share best practices, and find a way
to be more efficient and effective

in helping our youth enjoy sports,

whether you're a high performer,
or whether you're just participating

and want to be a part of a team
or learn a skill.

So important for our communities
to give our kids a place to learn,

to grow, to fail, to bounce back,

and to ultimately succeed in life.

So, thank you for watching Mind the Game.
I hope you enjoyed this episode.

Please subscribe if you haven't.
I look forward to seeing you next time.