Lakers guard Luka Dončić says he is not willing to repeat the past year, during which a custody dispute with his ex-fiancée kept him from seeing his two daughters for all but five days of the NBA season.
Dončić and Anamaria Goltes went through a public breakup that has since become a custody battle over their daughters, Gabriela and Olivia. The girls have been living with Goltes in Slovenia, leaving Dončić largely separated from them while he played for the Lakers in California. The one exception came in December, when he returned to Slovenia for Olivia’s birth.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix, conducted in Slovenia and released Thursday, Dončić reflected on the toll the separation took on him.
“Obviously, I had a lot on my mind the last year. I think this year, I spent the whole summer with my daughters, which was amazing for me. I was very happy just to be with them,” Dončić said.
Asked directly about how difficult the situation had been during the season, Dončić did not hold back.
“Yeah, it was pretty hard. I didn’t see them almost the whole season. Yeah, I can’t go another season like that,” Dončić said. “You want to spend time with your kids every day. So, last season was pretty hard. I saw them for five days in the whole season, which is impossible to do. But you know, I had to focus on basketball.”
Dončić, 27, has since taken legal action aimed at changing the arrangement. Last week he filed a Hague Convention petition seeking to have his daughters brought from Slovenia to the United States.
Whether that petition succeeds remains to be seen. If it is granted, Dončić would no longer face the prospect of going months without seeing his children while playing in California. If it is denied, he has made clear he intends to find another way to be present in their lives after a season he describes as unsustainable.
