How Olympiacos Fans Prevented Luka Doncic From Attending Real Madrid's EuroLeague Final

DALLAS — The former team of Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, Real Madrid, achieved a 79-78 victory over Olympiacos in the EuroLeague Final Four title game.

As BasketNews reported, Doncic planned to attend the game in Kaunas to support his former teammates, but was likely unable to do so.

According to Eurohoops' Aris Barkas, Doncic ended up not being able to make the trip to Kaunas due to there not being room for his private jet at the local airport. There was a significant amount of charter planes arriving from Greece.

"Luka Doncic wasn’t able to attend the Final Game, because there was no room in the local airport for his private jet to park due to charter planes arriving from Greece."

The strong level of support from Olympiacos fans was easy to see as video footage went vital on social media. The reported numbers included over 7,000 fans being there for the title game.

OLYMPIACOS FANS ARE GOING NUTS IN KAUNAS 🤯 #EUROLEAGUE #F4GLORY pic.twitter.com/90UWbophBr
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) May 21, 2023

While Doncic was unable to attend in person, he did celebrate with his former teammates using a FaceTime call in the locker room.

@rudy5fernandez celebrates with @luka7doncic 🎩@RMBaloncesto I #F4GLORY pic.twitter.com/Ao1NL7Ke41
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) May 21, 2023

Doncic had a highly successful career with Real Madrid with a variety of players that are still on the roster today, including Rudy Fernandez, Anthony Randolph, Sergio Llull, Fabien Causeur, and Edy Tavares.

Throughout Doncic's time in the NBA, he's often posted on Instagram pictures of his television being tuned into EuroLeague games. He also expressed during the season that he watches more EuroLeague than NBA.

“Not really. I watch some NBA games, but I watch more EuroLeague than NBA," Doncic said in January. "But if it is a really good NBA game on TV, I will watch it.”

Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).

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