Luka Doncic Highlights Inspired Musician Exel To Create His Single ‘Luka Magic’

Basketball is a culture. Although its origins trace back to a peach basket nailed to a barn, it is now a global sport, touching so many aspects of contemporary society. From influencing art to fashion to music, it is much more than a game. It’s a blank canvas inspiring many.

Dustin Schumacher, who performs under the stage name Exel, is one such musician drawing his creativity from the game. The on-court innovation from Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic sparked a musical revelation within him. Doncic’s play led him to write and record “Luka Magic,” a song that’s helped Schumacher grow a following among NBA and hip-hop fans alike.

“The fan base has just been incredible, and they’ve taken this song to something that’s bigger than myself,” Schumacher says. “This is literally Texas-sized—what they’ve done with this song and just blowing it up. No matter how [the Mavericks] are doing on the court, someone is always sharing it. Someone’s talking about it.”

His hit single didn’t come to him easily. Schumacher was in the studio collaborating with producer Saucelord Rich in Atlanta, Georgia. After hours of working, they had hit a creative wall. Rich–a multi-platinum producer who has worked with artists like 2 Chainz, Iggy Azalea, Lil Wayne, Post Malone and Young Thug, among others–suggested they take a break.

To reset and get the juices flowing again, Rich decided to put on some highlights of Doncic for the two of them to watch. He knew Schumacher was a huge fan of the Slovenian phenomenon. It didn’t take long before they both heard Mavericks play-by-play announcer Mark Followill exclaim “Luka magic!” after one Doncic nailed a buzzer-beating, game-tying three-pointer from the corner against the Portland Trail Blazers to send the game into overtime in 2018. It’s since become one of many signature plays in Doncic’s ever-growing highlight reel. That was the spark they needed.

Schumacher, 27, went to work and had a song written in 15 minutes. He and Rich began recording and mixing what would become “Luka Magic.” When they were finished, both knew they had something on their hands, but they didn’t yet know what the reception would be like. Once they released the song, it didn’t take long for it to gain traction.

“I got an email from one of the writers over at the Dallas Mavericks, who wrote an article on it,” Schumacher says. “Then these streams started going crazy. All these people started following me, and then I was invited out to sit VIP courtside at the Mavericks games. The song was played over the speakers in front of 20,000 [people] at the AAC [American Airlines Center].”

Sports have been a part of Schumacher’s life since his childhood. His brother got him into basketball at a young age. After reading a couple of feature stories about Dirk Nowitzki, Schumacher was hooked. The Waco, Texas resident latched onto any- and everything Dirk and the Mavericks.

Music wasn’t far behind. He got his first guitar when he was 10. It wasn’t an epic guitar solo he heard on the radio that drew him to the instrument. Instead, the video game Guitar Hero is what inspired him to pursue a deeper understanding of music, even though he admits that he wasn’t good at the game.

“I was absolutely horrible at it,” Schumacher says, laughing. “I’ve always been a medium kind of guy on Guitar Hero. So, I felt I only need to do these little four things on a guitar, and I’ll be a great guitarist, right? Unfortunately, I was very wrong about [turning] video games into real life, but that is really what started everything.”

Even with the building blocks of his current life in place at an early age, Schumacher didn’t take a straight-line path to his musical career. Things were difficult for him growing up. His family was poor, and his brother helped raised him. Initially, he aspired to be a professional wrestler, but that dream faded the more involved he became in the sport. He spent time working at a potato chip factory and held an assortment of other dead-end jobs as he got older. He also recently lost his father.

Music remained part of his life throughout it all. He was in a band that was getting some attention, but it broke up before anything could materialize. Schumacher began posting cover songs on his YouTube channel after a friend suggested it. One of his covers wound up going viral on Facebook, and that’s when Saucelord Rich reached out to him and invited him to Atlanta for the first time in 2020.

“I was there for two weeks, and we recorded songs and everything like that,” Schumacher says. “Rich and I built this friendship, and we just had these ideas.”

Those ideas propelled the two to work together again a year later. It’s this session that birthed “Luka Magic” and helped propel Schumacher to the notoriety he experiences today. People come up to him and shake his hand at watch parties, stop him in the streets after games and want to get to know him and talk a little about basketball.

Without basketball, and especially Luka Doncic, it’s possible Schumacher wouldn’t be where he is today. Instead, he drew inspiration from the game he has loved since he was a kid and left his mark on its culture. It has helped him become the person and the musician he is today.

“It’s life-changing,” Schumacher says. “I’ve had huge artists reach out to me to do a remix of a song, and it’s been totally life-changing. Coming from a kid who grew up in poverty with a single parent and their older brother raising them–my dad passed away a few years ago—it’s been a blessing.”