A hotly-debated topic at the start of any year is the cream of the crop from the rookies heading into the league for the first time. And all eyes this time around are on Luka Doncic.

每年新赛季伊始的热门话题就是刚刚进入联盟的菜鸟中的精英球员。而今年，所有的目光都聚集在了卢卡-东契奇的身上。

The 19-year-old Slovenian undoubtedly¹ has the potential to be by far the greatest player to come through this year. He has been tipped as the greatest international prospect² of all time.

毫无疑问，这位19岁的斯洛文尼亚小伙有潜力成为今年最杰出的一位球员。他已被视为有史以来最具前景的国际球员。

Picked at No 3 in the draft by the Atlanta Hawks³, he was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks⁴ – essentially⁵ swapped⁶ for fellow rookie Trae Young. The fortunes of the pair will be inextricably linked from now on.

在第三顺位被亚特兰大老鹰队选中之后，东契奇立马被交易至了达拉斯独行侠——换得了同为新秀的特雷杨。从那时起，两者的命运势必会有千丝万缕的联系。

With some NBA executives wary⁷ of the quality of talent coming in from overseas, Doncic was seen as somewhat of a gamble. Dallas reckon they have a sure bet.

由于一些NBA高管对来自海外的球员质量持谨慎态度，东契奇在某种程度上就是一场赌博。达拉斯则相信他们手握正确的赌注。

Doncic was born in Ljubljana, with father Sasa a basketball player in the Slovenian league. His mother, former model and dancer Mirjam Poterbin, remembers her son preferring football before he got 'too tall'.

东契奇出生在卢布尔雅那，父亲萨萨是斯洛文尼亚联赛的一名篮球运动员。他的母亲，前模特和舞蹈家米尔贾姆·波特宾，记得她儿子在身高猛长之前更喜欢踢足球 。

His natural aptitude⁸ was obvious from early forays into local youth leagues, often shining in age groups far beyond his years.

他的天资在早期进入当地青少年联盟的时候就初露锋芒了，这使得他在更高的年龄组中变身一颗亮眼的新星。

Aged just 13 he was signed up by the basketball arm of Real Madrid – who much like their football club have a mission to hoover up the continent's best talent.

年仅13岁的他就被皇家马德里的篮球俱乐部签下了-和他们的足球俱乐部一样，都是为了吸引欧洲大陆最优秀的人才。

He moved 1200 miles from his home country to live with fellow basketball and football prospects⁹ and straight away spent his time learning Spanish to mesh¹⁰ better with his peers.

他搬到了距离自己国家1200英里以外的地方，与篮球和足球未来精英们生活在一起。他花了大把的时间在学习西班牙语上，以便更好地与同伴交流。

Beginning to dominate any youth competition he entered to an embarrassing level, he became Real's senior team's youngest ever player at 16 years two months and two days.

在开始主宰所有的青年比赛之后，他进入了一个尴尬级别的比赛阶段。东契奇以16岁两个月零二天的年龄成为了皇马队史上最年轻的球员。

The next three years he started dominating men's basketball to an unprecedented¹¹ level for a teenager – he was nicknamed El Nino Maravilla (The Boy Wonder) by MARCA and became the youngest-ever winner of the EuroLeague's MVP award last season.

在接下来的三年里，年轻的他开始以前所未有的水平统治男篮联赛-他被马卡称作埃尔尼诺尼诺·马拉维拉，并成为上赛季欧洲联盟MVP最年轻的获奖者。

The football and basketball teams of Real Madrid often meet for club dinners. Aptly, for the team's superstar, he was on Cristiano Ronaldo's table

皇家马德里的足球队和篮球队经常在俱乐部聚餐。碰巧的是，东契奇与C罗就坐在同一张桌子上。

NBA

'He was really nice – nothing like on the field! I really respected him for that,' Doncic said last month of meeting the Portuguese¹² icon¹³.

谈到上个月见到的这位葡萄牙偶像时，东契奇说：“他人品很棒-一点都没有球星架子！我为此非常地敬佩他。”

While the vast majority of his peers have gone the traditional college route before entering the NBA draft, Doncic has been honing his skills against seasoned professionals and has been tipped as having a current game 'lightyears' ahead of anyone else in this crop of draft prospects.

尽管大多数同龄人在进入NBA选秀前都走了传统的大学路线，东契奇却通过与专业球员的较量来不断打磨自己的技能，并被认为拥有着足够的赛场经验而领先于这一轮选秀中的其他人。

At Dallas, he has the perfect mentor¹⁴. Dirk Nowitzki is one of the biggest legends still playing his trade in the league. Having turned 40 this summer, the 7-foot German is entering his 20th season at the Texan club.

在达拉斯，他有一位完美的导师。德克·诺维茨基仍然是联盟中最出色的传奇人物之一。如今这位7英尺高的德国人在今年夏天步入40岁，并开启了德克萨斯俱乐部的第二十个赛季。

As a man who knows exactly what it takes to make the journey from foreign prospect to NBA All-Star (12 times, no less), even Nowitzki has been taken aback by training with Doncic.

作为一个很清楚从国外联盟到NBA全明星（多达12次）需要付出什么的人，就连诺维茨基都为东契奇的训练大吃一惊。

'I could shoot a little bit [at 19], but I never had the court vision, the savviness and the stuff that he brings to the game,' Nowitzki gushed¹⁵ last month.

诺维茨基上个月赞不绝口地说：“我在19岁的时候有那么点投射能力，但我从来没有如此的场上视野以及他所带入比赛的智慧和其他一些东西。”

'Coming over from a different country, I went through the same thing about 20 years ago. It's tough to adjust to a lot of things: living in a different country, another culture, to a different game, different coaching, different play style. For me, that took a full year. My first year was really, really tough.

身处异国他乡的我，在20年前经历了同样的事情。很多事情并没有那么容易去适应：生活在另一个国家，另一种文化，融入不同的比赛，不同的教练，不同的比赛风格。我花了整整一年去适应。我的第一年非常非常艰难。

'We're going to do everything we can to help this kid develop and have fun and learn so we can see the best Luka here hopefully in a couple more years. But he's an incredible talent.'

“我们将尽我们所能帮助这个孩子成长、获得乐趣并学习，这样我们就能在未来几年看到最好的卢卡。他真是个令人难以置信的天才。”

The early signs have been promising¹⁶. Doncic has slotted in well to his new team. He demands time on the ball, able to be a playmaker for his side and possesses a proficient¹⁷ shot from deep. His years playing senior basketball put him ahead of his peers coming into the NBA.

早期的迹象已经说明了许多。东契奇已经很好地融入了他的新球队。他需要持球的时间，并能够成为球队的一名核心球员，拥有着有深度的投射能力。高级别篮球的比赛经验使他在一同进入NBA的同龄人中更高人一等。

The world will be watching. Without even having played a game in the NBA, he is one of the most famous athletes in Slovenia.

全世界都会关注。哪怕没有在NBA打过一场比赛，他都会是斯洛文尼亚最出名的运动员之一。

Asked about Ronaldo's fame while at Real Madrid, Doncic said: 'He's too famous. He can't go out on the street.' If he live up to the hype in Dallas, the Slovenian superstar will find himself with the same problem.

当被问及罗纳尔多在皇马的名气时，东契奇说：“他太出名了。他甚至不能上街散步。”如果他不辜负达拉斯的厚望，这位斯洛文尼亚巨星就会发现自己也面临同样的问题。