Luka Dončić expected to play for Slovenia at EuroBasket

With Slovenia set to take part in EuroBasket this summer, Luka Dončić is expected to lead his national team again.

The long offseason for the Lakers will make at least one decision much easier for Luka Dončić.

While it was hardly ever going to be a doubt whether he would play, Luka is expected to play for Slovenia at EuroBasket this summer, as reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

He will spend the summer playing for the Slovenian men’s national basketball team at EuroBasket, sources said. He’ll be accompanied by members of his “body team” — Slovenian national team strength coach Anže Maček and physiotherapist Javier Barrio Calvo — throughout the offseason.

EuroBasket is the equivalent of the Euros in soccer, just for basketball. And for those who don’t follow soccer, it pits the best teams across Europe against one another in a format similar to the Olympics.

In total, 24 teams will take part in the competition, spread across four groups. Slovenia will be in Group D alongside Poland, Iceland, Belgium, Israel and France, meaning he will have a chance at some revenge on Rudy Gobert.

After playing each team in the group once, the top four teams advance to the knockout rounds. From there, it is a single-elimination tournament to crown the winner.

Slovenia actually is a recent winner of the competition, led by Goran Dragic and a young Luka, knocking off Serbia in the final. It’s the only medal they’ve won in the competition.

EuroBasket starts this year on August 27 and runs until September 13. Typically, the Lakers begin training camp at the end of September, so that would give Luka a couple of weeks off, at least, before starting the NBA season.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.