Saša Dončić, a former basketball player and coach who is best known as the father of the NBA superstar Luka Dončić, has been named director of sport of the Slovenian Basketball Federation (KZS). He will coordinate communication between young players and the federation's management and coaches of various age categories.

Announcing the addition at a press conference on 18 January, KZS president Matej Erjavec said that Dončić's work will "transcend the framework of the senior national team."

Dončić will guide and monitor young Slovenian players from the national league, and those who play at universities in the US, and will report on their progress to the federation's management, he added.

"I can't think of a better person for this job. Saša was a top-level player, national team member, coach and director of sports," Erjavec noted.

The 49-year-old, who has been closely following the national basketball team since his son Luka debuted for the senior squad in 2017, said "it is a great honour to become part of such a successful and well-organised association".

Noting that his primary role is communicating with players from abroad and the coaching staff of the national team, and "given that I'm in the US a lot privately and ... above all that I love basketball, it was easy to accept the new challenge."

In his playing career from 1993 to 2010, Dončić played mostly for Slovenian clubs, with brief stints in Serbia and France. In 2004, he played two matches for the Slovenian national team in the qualifiers for the 2005 EuroBasket.

He then coached a number of Slovenian teams from 2010 to 2019, including Ilirija from Ljubljana, and has occasionally served as a basketball commentator for the commercial channel Kanal A.