Dončić wins EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy for 2016-2017
Madrid, 10 May - Luka Dončić, Slovenian teenage basketball sensation playing for Real Madrid, has won the EuroLeague Rising Star Trophy for the 2016-2017 season. He was voted the best young player unanimously by all 16 head coaches in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Istanbul, Turkey
Slovenian basketball player Luka Dončić (right).
Photo: Xinhua/STA
The 18-year-old guard has put together one of the greatest seasons by a teenager in European basketball history, flirting triple-doubles several times and helping his team to the final four in Istanbul next week, the basketball league says in a posting on its website.
Not only was he the youngest player to ever become MVP of the Round, but he has claimed the honour four times this season.
The trophy recognizes the best EuroLeague player each season under 22 on 1 July before the start of the season.
Croatian centre Ante Žižić of Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul came second in the voting.
Dončić joined Madrid in 2012 at the age of 13. He was named MVP of the 2015 Adidas Next Generation Tournament Finals after leading Madrid to the title.
However, Dončić is not the first Slovenian to win the Rising Star Trophy, as Erazem Lorbek was the inaugural Euroleague Rising Star in 2005 with Climamio Bologna.