Luka Dončić is one of the elite players in the NBA. But here's something you might not have known about the Lakers superstar: He's a big baseball guy.
He said as much when he joined Michael Kay and David Cone in the YES Network booth at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees took on the Rays on Monday night.
"[I played baseball] a lot," Dončić said. "On the Wii console."
Nintendo counts, right?
In any case, Dončić was in the Big Apple for a Jordan Brand promotional tour stop and decided to take in a game in the Bronx, where he got a photo taken with Yankees stars Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm, Jr. They also exchanged some gifts, with Judge giving Dončić a Yankees No. 77 jersey and a pair of signed cleats, and Dončić returning the favor by presenting Judge with a pair of his "NY vs. NY" Jordan Luka .77s.
Dončić, Judge and Chisholm have more in common than just sports stardom -- each is also a Jordan Brand athlete.
Upon joining Kay and Cone on the YES telecast, Kay noted that Dončić looks quite different from the last time we saw him on the hardwood, using the word "shredded" three times.
"And now he's joining us in the booth," Kay said, "where we're not shredded."
They touched on a few topics, including Dončić's offseason training regimen and last season's stunning trade from the Mavericks to the Lakers.
They eventually got around to baseball, of course. And while Dončić wouldn't commit to being a Yankees fan -- understandable given that he plays in Los Angeles, where they have some pretty good baseball of their own -- he did say he was enjoying the atmosphere and watching one of the most historic teams in the world of sport in action.
Kay asked him whether he is good at baseball when playing on the Wii.
"Yeah, on Wii, I was great," Dončić replied. "Here? Probably not."
It's alright, Luka. You're not too shabby on the basketball court, what with the five All-Star selections, five All-NBA First Team selections, Rookie of the Year Award, 2023-24 NBA scoring title and the MVP Award from the 2024 Western Conference Finals.