Today is the day of the equation (Ni+Lu)ka, since both my earliest friend Nika and Luka Dončić celebrate their birthdays. This happened last night. If you watched because I keep going on about Luka, I hope you watched till the end.
Be calm Even if they are 21 points down in the third quarter, even if the opponent is Steph-dammit-Curry, even if Luka keeps losing the ball, passing to teammates who don’t score, getting hit and not drawing fouls and then bitching to everybody about everything, with both his (divorced) parents from Slovenia in attendance since he is turning 23 in a few hours, even if it’s almost 4 am and you’re tempted to call it a night and let them lose without you. Don’t. Calma. Miracles happen but only if you don’t give up and watch how Luka’s team decide to give him the best present of all, of not giving up.
Here is a fancy basketball court in Savsko naselje in Ljubljana, the city of birth of Luka as well my mom’s, my friend’s and mine. Behind the tall building there is the yellow house where mom lived growing up. She took me there in 2018 and we found this lovely courtyard. For her basketball came later. She grew into an excellent guard who was hitting three-pointers way before they were invented.
And my friend Nika trained basketball too. There she is in my blogging memories at the end. As you can see there, our fathers played basketball too.
Happy birthday, Nika + Luka!
In response to Patrick Jennings’ Pic and a Word Challenge #303: Becalmed
This day in my blogging history
An Embarrassment of Riches 
Good graffiti writing!
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Thanks, TAB. Only after posting the photos I was able to read what it says. The white part helped. “Filip’s Playground”. Filip’s friends set it up after he died.
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As a crazy baseball fan, I very much appreciate your poem about NOT being calm. So true. And I love the basketball photos. I can’t believe Luka is only just now turning 23. What a phenom.
I watched the highlights of the game: the Mavs executed a 33-10 run in the closing 10 minutes??? Clutch free throws from Luka; even kept a ball in bounds after a missed shot. Dinwiddie was awesome too. Keep Mavs news flowing!
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I thought of you during the game, Carol Ann. “If she’s watching, she’ll kick my ass.” 😀 And then towards the end – a miracle. It was really baaaad most of the time though. Incredible win. Both new arrivals are splendid. Guess who Mavs face tomorrow… LeBron! 😀
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How fun that the court itself holds a mural!
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Thank you, Crystal. Only after posting these photos I realised what the writing says: “Filipovo igrišče,” Filip’s playground. It appears Filip’s friends helped this happen after he died. And last year Luka Dončić himself invested some money in its refurbishment since he played right here as a kid. 😮 I have never heard of this before. Today when choosing photos for my poem I must have felt the connection. 🙂 (ADD-IT: No, it’s not this one but one very near.)
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Oh this adds so much to the images. ❤
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Love all the colors ! Street art is the best.
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Thanks, Bonnie. It appears to be freshly painted when we were there. I wonder how it looks now, four years later.
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Great artwork in the basketball court!
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Thanks, scooj. The white part helped me finally read it: “Filip’s courtyard.” His friends made it happen when he died.
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I really like the bold colors of that court. There is always room for hope in sports. I have seen plenty of unbelievable endings. (K)
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Thank you, K. Right… One needs to believe. I like the colours too.
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The artwok on that basketball court is spectacular 🙂
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Thank you, Not Pam, agreed! I wonder how it is now, 4 years later.
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