When you think of Jaxson Hayes, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it his highlight dunks? His time with the Lakers or the Pelicans? Or perhaps you think about his unreal 64.9% career shooting percentage.
One thing you probably don’t think about is the country of Slovenia.
Well, that might be changing soon.
After the Lakers lost to the Mavericks in an inconsequential preseason game, Hayes talked postgame about his relationship with Luka Dončić.
As part of his answer, he mentioned trying to get a Slovenian passport so he can begin playing with Luka in international play, too.
Wait, what? Can Hayes even do that?
His tone was serious, and when looking into the naturalization process and Slovenia’s history of finding bigs from other countries, it’s not as outlandish as one might think.
Recently, Josh Nebo, a center born in Houston, Texas, played a ton overseas and was granted a Slovenian passport in 2024. He played with Slovenia during Olympic qualification matches in 2024, but didn’t participate in EuroBasket this year due to injury.
Mike Tobey is another big man who secured a Slovenian passport. He is originally from Monroe, New York, and obtained his Slovenian passport back in 2021 in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Qualifying games, which were delayed a year due to COVID.
In an article from Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops back in 2023, he discussed how naturalizing players is becoming more common, especially overseas.
Naturalized players are starting to make a more significant impact as time passes. After a brilliant decision to issue the passport to Anthony Randolph before the 2017 Eurobasket, which resulted in a gold medal, Slovenia made another astute move by adding Tobey as a naturalized player to the team. He fit well with the team, and the fact that he’s still playing under the Slovenian flag proves how important a piece he was and is to Sekulic’s plans
This might be an oversimplification, but essentially, if Slovenia wants to naturalize a player, there is a track record of that not being a hard hurdle to clear. There is paperwork and a process for it, but if that’s their desire and everyone is on board, it certainly happens more often than not.
With Tobey leaving the Slovenian team and being replaced by Nebo, who has an injury history and is nowhere near the center Hayes is, it makes sense that Slovenia would aim to pair Luka with the Laker center he already has a great connection.
So, as insane as all of this feels and sounds, it appears there’s a very real possibility Hayes and Luka could be playing together at the 2028 Olympics in LA.