Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, third in NBA scoring and assists this season, delighted a nine-year-old fan Thursday who says watching the 20-year-old Slovenian helps ease his epileptic seizures.
Doncic greeted Brayden Whitley before and after the Mavericks’ 123-111 home victory over Brooklyn after the young fan, wearing a T-shirt with Doncic’s name and jersey number was spotted in the stands.
Mavericks assistant coach Darrell Armstrong saw the young fan holding a sign reading: “My Doc said watching Luka helps my epilepsy! 9 months no seizures!”
Armstrong escorted Whitley from the stands onto the court before the game to greet Doncic on the free throw line, where he chatted briefly, shared a hug and signed an autograph for the boy.
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Doncic, who is averaging 29.1 points and 8.9 assists a game, scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Mavs in Thursday’s triumph.
Hours earlier, Doncic was unveiled as the early vote leader in fan balloting for next month’s NBA All-Star Game with 1,073,957 votes.
Last month, Doncic shared a moment with a 22-month-old Slovenian boy with the rare genetic disease 1 spinal muscular atrophy who needed the world’s most expensive drug, Zolgensma gene therapy, that costs $2.125 million per patient.
Doncic helped raise more than $2 million for the boy’s medical treatment in Los Angeles and to relocate his family.