LJUBLJANA (Slovenia) - The eyes of the basketball world will be firmly on Luka Doncic for at least several more weeks with Slovenia naming their superstar in a 16-man squad for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus.
Slovenia's most famous player, about to feature in the NBA Finals for the first time in his career when his Dallas Mavericks take on the Boston Celtics, is the most prominent name in a national squad that has several other members of the team that won the 2021 OQT in Kaunas before finishing fourth at the Olympics in Japan.
In addition to Doncic, who finished third this season in the NBA's MVP voting, Slovenia have Tokyo Olympians Klemen Prepelic, Jaka Blazic, Zoran Dragic, Mike Tobey, Vlatko Cancar, Aleksej Nikolic, Ziga Dimec, Gregor Hrovat and Edo Muric in the preliminary group.
Cancar has been included despite missing the NBA season with Denver while recovering from a torn ACL.
Doncic is so dazzling and productive that he will be the center of attention when Slovenia hit the court in Piraeus and take on Croatia in their first OQT game on July 2, and then again on July 4 against New Zealand.
There is a very real prospect, too, that Doncic and Slovenia will take on Greece, who are in Group B and have two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in their squad.
Doncic averaged a World Cup best 27.0 points per game last summer and ranked fourth in efficiency. He was selected in the World Cup 2023 All-Star Five.
In the NBA, his numbers are staggering. Doncic nearly averaged a triple-double in the regular season at 33.9 ppg, 9.2 rebounds per game and 9.8 assists per game. In the playoffs, he has averaged so far 28.8 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game and 8.8 assists per game.
And now, fans all around the world are hoping for another display of FIBA Luka Magic this summer.
FIBA