Slovenia, Luka Dončić prepped for EuroBasket amidst drama, lackluster results

Luka Doncic’s hard work during the summer seems to be paying off. Now comes the first real test.

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EuroBasket officially kicks off on Wednesday while Luka Dončić and Slovenia play their first game against Poland on Thursday.

While the Slovenian national team has played six prep games the last few weeks, Luka Dončić has only participated in a few of them. The team has not looked impressive without the Lakers superstar, but during the games Dončić did play, he did not disappoint.

Despite an injury scare during the game against Latvia — which turned out to be nothing — Dončić has looked promising from

the first time we saw him play this summer. Against Great Britain, the only prep game victory for Slovenia in six games, Dončić was even toying a little with the opponent, having some fun and putting up 28 points in the 93-81 win.

When basketball is just a bit too easy and you need an extra challenge 😅#EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/AWXXcaEIuu
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) August 19, 2025

But in the final prep game against the favorites in Serbia, the weaknesses of this Slovenian team became apparent. Serbia, an elite defensive team, double-teamed Dončić, blitzed him and did everything they could to take him out of the game. That left it up to the rest of the team to play four-on-three often, but they rarely managed to cash in on the opportunities Dončić created.

It looked like a mediocre team with a superstar in the middle trying to do it all…which is exactly what it is. Basketball is a team sport and it is impossible for one person to lift a team by himself. Luka Dončić will try, however, as he has done before both for Slovenia and in Dallas.

And that can make for some pretty exciting basketball in itself.

Behind the scenes, however, the Slovenian national team has shown some cracks in their otherwise very connected roster. With older players slowly having to give up their spot to younger ones and not feeling heard or communicated to, internal drama took center stage during the preparation phase. To summarize, Zoran Dragić was cut from the team last week and, after that, his wife went public with criticism of the head coack, the team’s leadership and the lack of communication Zoran experienced, insisting that he was not cut, but left himself.

Zoran Dragić, a vet on the team, is also the brother of former NBA player, star of the Slovenian 2017 Eurobasket gold winners and Doncic’s mentor, Goran Dragić. Goran quickly showed what side he was on as he simply posted a picture on Instagram of Pinocchio with the hashtag “selektor” (which means coach). One doesn’t have to think long to understand the meaning of that.

Goran Dragic responded to his brother Zoran's Slovenian national team exit with a cryptic Pinocchio Instagram post aimed at head coach Aleksander Sekulic 😮 #EuroBasket

More about it:https://t.co/l9EnHMiw82 pic.twitter.com/6iZzIxWkqC
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 13, 2025

This increased the noise and criticism, which was already present around the team, and forced players and coaches to respond to the comments. Veteran Edo Muric spoke out last week, however, and said that it had all helped the team get more connected and stay together. It wouldn’t be the first time adversity helped cohesiveness on a team.

But after the substantial loss to Serbia in the last prep game, it was reported that Luka was very disappointed and had a lot to say to the group. Edo Muric said afterwards that the team never felt so bad before as they did after that game. He called it a “reality check” and emphasized that now the team is extra motivated to prove themselves, because they don’t want that to happen again.

And so the Slovenian national team enters a tournament with only one win in six prep games, a lot of noise and turmoil and a superstar with big expectations. Dončić always plays to win, and that alone could take this team further than its current talent suggests.

Dončić showed a noticeable burst of speed in the prep games and his shot has been looking ready from the beginning instead of rusty during the first games. If nothing else, tuning in to watch what Luka might do next and what to expect for the upcoming Lakers season should be reason enough to follow this tournament. And who knows, maybe watching him battle it out with the stars of Europe will be the cherry on top for Lakers fans.

With the toughest opponent in Slovenia’s group stage being France, who are missing its biggest stars in Victor Wembanyama, Rudy Gobert, Mathias Lessort and Evan Fournier, the round of 16 and maybe even a quarterfinal spot is not impossible with Dončić at his best. After all, with a player like Luka giving it everything, nothing is impossible.