Luka Dončić suffered a knee contusion while playing with Slovenia in a friendly contest against Latvia. In his two quarters of play, Luka was magnificent. He scored 26 points, had five assists and four rebounds.
The injury ended his night early and had Lakers fans all around the world concerned about the health of their young star.
Luckily, the situation doesn’t seem to be serious. This has been further confirmed with Slovenia stating that Luka would practice with the team on Monday via a social media
post. They have another exhibition game coming up against Great Britain on Tuesday.
Dončić’s availability will be crucial if Slovenia is to make a run during their EuroBasket play. He is one of the best players on the planet and clearly the driving force for the team. Still, health is needed and Luka has to proceed with caution.
Slovenia has a couple of exhibition matches left before they begin the tournament, so he’ll have time to test out his knee in practice and potentially in one of the upcoming friendlies.
The reality is that anytime a player participates in a competitive basketball game, there is a risk for injury. So, while the thought that Luka might get hurt playing in non-Lakers games is an unsettling one, fans will have to get used to it.
Luka plays in virtually every Slovenia game that doesn’t conflict with his NBA duties, and that trend continues now that he is wearing a purple and gold uniform.
Hopefully, this is the last injury Luka suffers this summer and it continues to be an insignificant one.
While Luka will practice with Slovenia, they have not stated if he will play against Great Britain. We’ll have to wait and see if he is available for that game, or if they opt to give him some additional rest and have him ready for the following matchup against Serbia on Thursday.
If Luka does miss any of these games, there’s no need for concern. Having him play in every exhibition would be excessive. Even when he was 100% healthy, he missed Slovenia’s game against Lithuania.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
