Vlatko Čančar, the Slovenian player who recently won the title of NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets, told Slovenian fans the championship title was a dream come true.

"If someone had told me back then, when I was playing on concrete courts in front of the block of flats in Koper, that I was going to be an NBA champion, I would probably have laughed at them, especially since I preferred to play football back then," he said at a reception in his hometown of Koper on 27 June.

Čančar has been getting limited play in the League, but last season was his busiest, with 60 regular season games played and almost 15 minutes played per game on average.

He took advantage of this, averaging five points per game, and also made some beautiful, attention-drawing plays, to become only the fourth Slovenian player to win the NBA championship.

Asked about what it is like to play with the Serb Nikola Jokić, a two-time NBA MVP and this year's Finals MVP, he gave a big smile and a short-and-sweet answer: "I've never had an easier job."

The hometown reception was much smaller than the Nuggets championship parade through Denver, where hundreds of thousands of fans celebrated, but it did not lack enthusiasm as the 26-year-old was greeted by several hundred locals.

Soon after the celebrations end, Čančar will start training for the 2023 FIBA World Cup together with his teammates from the national team.

He will join forces with another NBA player, Luka Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks, who is yet to win the coveted ring.