Slovenia’s recruiting efforts in Dallas involved Luka’s father, Saša, who serves as director of basketball operations, and were focused on the coaching staff. The federation ultimately landed the commitment of Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney to serve on the coaching staff. However, while the federation was in town, Saša was eager to also recruit Gafford, who was the first choice for the team’s naturalized player slot of both Saša and Slovenia’s head coach, Aleksander Sekulić. “I can tell you that at the time, Gafford was absolutely the first choice of both Saša Dončić and coach Aleksandar Sekulić,” Erjavec said. “We were at the game in Dallas and after it we had a meeting with the leaders of Dallas, where we primarily talked about the coaching staff. Even they didn’t know at the time that the Mavericks would go to the Finals, and we talked about Sean Sweeney being with our national team for the entire preparation. We agreed on everything…” -via Dallas Hoops Journal / September 6, 2024