Doncic expresses desire to play for Slovenia in busy summer

MUNICH (Germany) - Luka Doncic has reaffirmed his willingness to suit up for Slovenia's national team again this summer, including for the defense of their FIBA EuroBasket title.

The 23-year-old superstar helped lead Slovenia to the Olympics for the first time last summer with an MVP performance in the Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas before just missing out on a medal in Tokyo.

"I ALWAYS SAY IF I'M NOT INJURED OR ANYTHING, I WILL PLAY FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM."

Doncic's season in the NBA came to an end last week in the Western Conference Finals and confirmed his plans for the summer in exit interviews with reporters covering the Dallas Mavericks beat.

"I always say, if I'm not injured or anything, then I will play for the national team," said Doncic. "I think I start practices [with the national team] in 15 days, then we have World Cup Qualifiers and then we have to get ready for EuroBasket - so, busy summer."

Slovenia are set to begin their national team preparations in the coming weeks as they first get ready for an important final window in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 European Qualifiers.

They will host Croatia on June 30 in Ljubljana before heading to Stockholm to take on Sweden in their final game in the First Round with the top three teams in the group advancing to the Second Round, which is due to begin in August.

 
Focus then switches to EuroBasket for the start of September with Doncic having played a major role in Slovenia's historic title triumph in the 2017 edition. He made the All-Tournament Team as a teenager alongside MVP Goran Dragic as they defeated Serbia in the Final.

Slovenia will be based in Cologne for the initial group phase as they take on France, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary and the hosts, Germany from September 1-7, 2022.

FIBA