Luka Doncic is one of the most explosive players in the NBA today. But the Dallas Mavericks star faced an explosive threat of a different magnitude on Thursday as Team Slovenia awaited the 2023 FIBA World Cup opening in Japan.
Around 4 a.m. local time in Okinawa, Japan, Doncic was awakened by an emergency alarm that was heard by every citizen in the area. The reason? North Korea was said to be in the midst of launching a missile within the region. Doncic was asked about the disturbance during a press conference later in the day.
“Oh yeah, the alarm was crazy,” Doncic told reporters, via Grant Afseth of Sports Illustrated. “I mean, I just saw ‘Missiles, it’s coming. Missile, it’s coming.’ So I was a little scared.”
The island of Okinawa, which sits in the southernmost region of the Japanese archipelago, is around one thousand miles away from North Korea. The missile turned out to be a failed attempt from North Korea to launch a spy satellite passing through that area of the Pacific Ocean. Japan alerted all residents and visitors using the local “J-Alert system” through everyone’s cellphones.
Despite Doncic not being able to get a good night’s sleep, the Slovenian superstar is still likely to cause nightmares for his opponents in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Slovenia is the heavy favorite to top Group F, which is rounded out by Cape Verde, Georgia, and Venezuela. Doncic and Slovenia start things off against Venezuela on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. local time.
