For the second time, Luka Doncic received a visit from NBA team executives—previously, Mavericks leaders had attended to him in 2022—and now Lakers' Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss came to support him ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2025.
The Slovenian national team and Luka Doncic welcomed some very special guests ahead of FIBA EuroBasket 2025 on Thursday night. Los Angeles Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and team president Jeanie Buss traveled to Katowice, Poland, to visit their superstar.
Slovenia / Schedule
"That's really important to the Lakers when we have a player that's the face of our franchise, just to show that support for him," Pelinka told reporters. "And it's just great to see him with his teammates interacting, having fun.
"He's in great shape, really committed to working hard this summer. And to be able to watch that in person was worth flying over the ocean to be with him."
This isn't the first time Doncic and his teammates have received such attention.
At FIBA EuroBasket 2022, Dallas Mavericks then-majority owner Mark Cuban, GM Nico Harrison, assistant GM Michael Finley, and head coach Jason Kidd attended several of Doncic's group stage games in Cologne, Germany.
"I love just watching Luka play, because he loves to play so much," Cuban told BasketNews at the time. "It's always a joy because you see joy in his game."
Credit FIBA
However, their primary reason for traveling was to attend the retirement ceremony of Dirk Nowitzki's No. 14 German national team jersey on the tournament's opening day.
This time, the top Lakers executives made the trip specifically to see Luka in person, following his three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension with the team in early August.
While some NBA fans question stars competing for their national teams in the offseason, the Lakers made their stance clear.
"Zero problems," Pelinka said on Thursday. "I mean, it's just something that we believe in for the Lakers organization and their leadership, and obviously, their executives have been great. It's been a collaborative partnership with them.
"I think when you're made to play a sport, you should play for your national team, and so we support that," he added. "Luka just loves to play. It's his favorite thing to do in the world, and we would do nothing to get in the way of that."
Slovenia kicks off FIBA EuroBasket 2025 on August 28 against Poland. Their other group D opponents are France. Iceland, Belgium, and Israel.
Pijus Sapetka
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