Shortly after Luka Doncic finished with his first media session at the Lakers’ practice facility Tuesday, Kings captain Anze Kopitar was surrounded by reporters at his team’s training center about a half-mile away.
Kopitar, the only Slovenian to win hockey’s Stanley Cup, and Doncic, the only Slovenian named the NBA’s rookie of the year, were born just 38 miles apart and remain their country’s most popular and accomplished professional athletes. And though they talked on the phone occasionally and reportedly kept tabs on each other, they didn’t meet in person until 2019, when Doncic, then a rookie, came out to see Kopitar and the Kings beat the Dallas Stars.