Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Lakers guard and Slovenian superstar Luka Doncic carried Slovenia to a EuroBasket win over Italy in the round of 16 on Sunday. Doncic accounted for exactly half of his team’s 84 points, and he shot 11-of-19 from the field and 5-of-11 from deep against the Italians.
Doncic allegedly left the first quarter of that contest in pain, but he returned and still lit up the nets. Hence, he dismissed any injury concerns, though he did say he needs therapy.
“I need therapy, but I’ll be fine,” he said.
Now that Slovenia has bested Italy, it will advance to take on Germany in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Germany has NBA talent on its roster with the likes of Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder, Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner and some former NBA players as well in big man Daniel Theis and forward Isaac Bonga.
Whether or not Slovenia will be able to beat a Germany team that has far more NBA experience spread throughout its roster in a few days could hinge on how impacted Doncic will be by the injury in that contest. If Doncic isn’t noticeably hampered by the injury, it seems as if Slovenia at least has a puncher’s chance to come out on top.
However, if Doncic looks out of sorts and not like his usual dominant self, Slovenia will face an uphill battle on Wednesday.
If it were up to Lakers fans, maybe they wouldn’t want Doncic to play against Germany. Fans of the team want Doncic to be healthy in his first full season with the Lakers after he was limited to just 50 games with Los Angeles and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024-25 regular season.
The start of the 2025-26 NBA campaign is coming up for the Lakers, as the team will play its first preseason contest against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 3. Barring Doncic going down with an unforeseen serious injury in EuroBasket, fans of the Lakers shouldn’t be worried about his availability for the upcoming preseason and regular season.
Hopefully, before he joins the Lakers for the coming NBA season, Doncic will lead Slovenia to the EuroBasket title.
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