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Los Angeles Lakers
Aug 7, 2025 11:11 PM EDT
It can be a delicate dance, when it comes to NBA teams employing international players, because most of those players feel a strong loyalty to their national teams and an obligation to don their jerseys whenever asked. U.S. teams are grateful, of course, for the influx of international players, but most view summer tournaments solely through the lens of injury risks. For Slovenian guard Luka Doncic, that was long the case in Dallas.
The Mavericks wanted Doncic happy, of course. They indulged his willingness to suit up for the Slovenians. But they wanted him healthy, and would have preferred he not take part in tournaments over the offseason.
The Lakers have not said publicly they want Doncic to not play, now that he is in L.A. and EuroBasket is just days away from tipoff. But around the league, the feeling is that with as much emphasis that the team is putting into conditioning next year, they’d rather Doncic sit out.
Luka Doncic Considered Skipping EuroBasket–Briefly
But Doncic is playing, and he insists to Slovenian media covering the team that the Lakers gave him no inkling that there might be a problem with his participation. He was asked whether the Lakers give him “free rein,” and Doncic replied (via Svet24 and a Google translation): “They support me, they really support me and encourage me to the maximum.”
Doncic was also asked if he considered taking the summer off, given the intensity of the past year for him in the NBA, which saw him undergo the trade from Dallas and the subsequent emotional aftermath.
“There was a thought, but in the end I think we all knew I was going to play,” he said. “As I have said many times before, if I can, I will always play so that the decision was not difficult.”
Doncic and Slovenia will begin their pre-tournament slate with a friendly against Germany on Friday. The team will play its EuroBasket opener Aug. 28 vs. Poland in Katowice, Poland.
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Sean Deveney