Slovenia's preliminary roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers does not include either Los Angeles Lakers player Luka Doncic, who is unavailable due to a custody situation involving his daughters, or Jaxson Hayes, whose national-team debut remains on hold.
Slovenia has announced its 17-player preliminary roster for the upcoming FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, with no Los Angeles Lakers players on the list. Neither Luka Doncic nor Jaxson Hayes was included.
Jaxson Hayes
Jaxson Hayes
Jaxson Hayes
MIN: 18.02
PTS: 7.29 (71.52%)
REB: 3.99
AS: 0.87
ST: 0.42
BL: 0.79
TO: 0.54
GM: 76
Doncic previously revealed on Instagram that he will not represent Slovenia this summer due to an ongoing custody situation involving his daughters.
"If the situation were normal, there would be no question of him playing for the national team," Slovenia general manager and Luka's father, Sasa Doncic, said earlier. "There are simply no greater things in life than children."
Meanwhile, Lakers center Jaxson Hayes has already obtained a Slovenian passport, but complications remain regarding his naturalization process.
"There are rules stating that naturalized players must have all documentation completed 45 days before the game," Sasa Doncic previously noted. "We already missed this qualifying window, so we will see how things develop in the future."
Even so, Slovenia is not planning to fast-track Hayes into the national team setup.
"Hayes is a young player, and he will be able to play for Slovenia for at least five more years, so we do not want to include him too quickly," Sasa said. "I think Luka needs to introduce him to the team, so he will come when Luka is ready."
Credit FIBA
Slovenia closes in on next stage of World Cup qualifiers
Slovenia is preparing to complete the first stage of the 2027 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers. The team will travel to Estonia on July 3 before hosting Sweden on July 6.
The rejuvenated Slovenian squad currently leads Group H with a 3-1 record.
Under head coach Aleksandar Sekulic, Slovenia has defeated the Czech Republic twice, earned a road win over Sweden, and suffered a narrow overtime loss to Estonia.
After the July window, Group H will merge with Group G, which includes France, Finland, Hungary, and Belgium. The second phase of the qualifiers will begin at the end of August.
With Doncic and Hayes absent, Vlatko Cancar is the most recognizable name on Slovenia's roster. The former NBA forward returns to the national team after missing FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
Full Slovenia preliminary roster
No. Player
1. Miha Cerkvenik
2. Sasa Ciani
3. Vlatko Cancar
4. Gregor Hrovat
5. Stefan Joksimovic
6. Urban Klavzar
7. Urban Kroflic
8. Alen Malovcic
9. Edo Muric
10. Alen Omic
11. Mark Padjen
12. Bine Prepelic
13. Klemen Prepelic
14. Rok Radovic
15. Ziga Samar
16. Leon Stergar
17. Luka Scuka
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