I am standing by the dessert table at the Mavs’ holiday party when I first meet Zalar and fellow Slovenian Inja Fric in early December (more on her later). They are here to start a new internship with the Mavericks after waiting two years for this moment.
It’s been a long and arduous journey for them, one that required lots of patience after the pandemic delayed their start date over and over. Days turned into months, then years, but finally the team’s newest Slovenians arrived at the end of 2021.
They tell me life has been a whirlwind and every moment with the Mavericks is special.