Luka Dončić’s parents are Saša Dončić (born 1975) and Mirjam Poterbin (born April 7, 1974). The NBA superstar’s father, Saša, is a basketball coach, while his mother, Mirjam, is a former model and entrepreneur.
Luka has a reasonably good relationship with his dad, but he has been closer to his mother throughout his life. The closeness between mother and son has taken a hit in recent times, with the NBA star seeking to regain control over the trademark of his name and has since filed a petition against her to that effect. These recent developments have reignited the interest of the public to know more about the NBA star’s parents.
Luka Dončić’s Dad Saša Dončić is a Basketball Coach
We begin with the NBA star’s father, Saša, who was born in 1975. His exact date of birth is unknown, but Saša is a Slovenian citizen by birth, as he was born in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia. A further inquiry has revealed that he has Serbian and Kosovo roots.
The details of Saša’s birth family members, including his parents and any siblings he might have had, remain unknown at the moment, as do details of his formal education background.
Before venturing into a basketball coaching career, Saša Dončić previously played the game he loves in his home country. He played in similar positions as his son Luka but additionally played as a power forward when the situation demanded it. He won the Slovenian Championship twice and also won three Slovenian Cups.
His playing career also took him to countries like France and Serbia while he also participated in the EuroLeague during the 2007-08 season. He twice represented the Slovenian National Basketball team in 2005 during their qualification run for the 2005 FIBA EuroBasket Championships.
When his playing career ended, Saša easily transitioned into a coach, and his journey in that direction began in 2010. His most recent job as a coach was with Ilirija from 2017 to 2022. At the time of writing, Saša Dončić was unattached, although that statistic can change anytime soon.
What is Luka Dončić’s Mom’s Age?
Luka Dončić’s mom, Mirjam Poterbin, is 50 years old. Like her son and ex-husband, Mirjam Poterbin was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Not much is known about the celebrity mom’s father, Anton Poterbin, but her mother, Milena Poterbin, was a hairdresser. There has been no mention of Mirjam’s siblings, and that has led to the assumption that she is the only child of her parents.
Mirjam is a well-educated woman who bagged a Public Administration degree from the University of Ljubljana. She also spent some time studying in the college’s Faculty of Sports.
Is Luka Dončić’s Mom Still a Model?
Although she spent most of her early years working as a model, Luka Dončić’s mom is no longer a model. Her years as a model saw her compete in several beauty pageants, including the Miss Slovenian Konjice Pageant in 1993. She emerged as the first runner-up in that competition.
She, however, won the Gorenjska Preliminary competition for Miss Slovenia and held the title of Miss Skala 93 briefly. Despite qualifying for the finals of Miss Slovenia in 1993, she didn’t do so well at the competition and failed to achieve a notable ranking. The pageant was ultimately won by Metka Albreht.
With her modeling days long behind her, Mirjam Poterbin is now an entrepreneur who works closely with her son Luka. She owns a webshop that deals in various products that are linked to her son. Luka Dončić’s mother’s entrepreneurial abilities have seen her acquire business enterprises such as Lumi7 Real Estate. The brand also owns the PIXI Ice Cream brand, which was previously owned by Mpb4.
Miriam Poterbin also serves on the board of several charity organizations, including the Foundation for Realizing Dreams, a charity organization set up to provide resources for talented but economically and socially disadvantaged children.
Luka Dončić’s Parents Divorced in 2008
At some point, Luka Dončić’s parents were crazy about each other in a very good and wholesome way. Those times seem quite long ago now because their divorce was finalized in 2008. The timing of their divorce pretty much sums up the level of information regarding the former couple’s relationship.
We have yet to ascertain when Luka’s parents met each other for the first time and when they officially began dating. There is also no information regarding how long they dated before they got married. With regards to the wedding ceremony, the finer details, such as the date and venue of the ceremony, have yet to become public knowledge.
After his birth in 1999, Luka Dončić’s parents did not have any more children, and this development confirmed his status as the only child of his parents. Luka was nine years old when his parents decided to end their marriage, and following the decision to break up the then small family of three through a divorce, a bitter battle for the custody of the young Luka ensued between his parents, a battle that his mom ended up winning.
That outcome meant that Luka began to live with his mother, who began dating Boris Pozeg-Pixi in 2012. Boris is an entrepreneur and owns Mpb4. Several reports also claim that before they hooked up as a couple, Mirjam and Boris had been friends since the 1990s. They are not married, but they have lived together for more than a decade now.
Luka’s Relationship With His Mother is Strained
We don’t have sufficient information to speculate on Saša Dončić’s relationship with his son, but we assume that it can be as close-knit as the one the NBA star has with his mother. Luka can claim to have inherited some of his skills as a basketball player from his father, who played in similar positions as he does now, but the influence of his mother on his career cannot be overstated.
She was right by his side when he was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2018 and continued to show up for his games and manage his affairs off the court. The relationship between mother and son was solidified when he gave his permission for her to own the trademark to his name in 2018.
However, that decision is one that Luka wants to reverse, and his mother’s refusal to relinquish those rights has been the source of the legal action he instituted against her and the friction they have been experiencing in their relationship over the last few months.
Let’s hope that this issue, which appears to be at a stalemate, is resolved soon and that mother and son would go back to being the kind that people have always looked up to.
