By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Confirming a recent report and also general expectations about Luka Doncic, the president of the Basketball Federation of Slovenia, Matej Erjavec, opened up about the 26-year-old combo guard suiting up in the EuroBasket 2025.
Talking to RTV SLO, the public channel of Slovenia, he went from early contacts with the Los Angeles Lakers to details about reaching an agreement similar to the previous one with the Dallas Mavericks.
“Within two minutes in a meeting with Rob Pelinka, he stressed, ‘Well, you will get Luka and one coach, and that’s it’. And with that, we were done,” Erjavec described the approach of the Lakers‘ general manager, “There was no debate at all.”
Over the most recent international appearances of Doncic, Sean Sweeney, a member of the Mavs’ coaching staff, had joined the national team of Slovenia. His replacement from the Lakers will be named upon further talks between the involved parties.
Moving on from a busy 2024-25 journey, including a stunning trade, the native of Ljubljana has been in Madrid, attending Real Madrid’s game in Round 33 of the Liga Endesa Regular Season and practicing with his former team.
From additional individual work to eventually joining his international teammates in training camp, the summer plan is focused on preparing for the EuroBasket.
In Group D of the preliminary round, Slovenia will face Poland, France, Belgium, Iceland, and Israel in Katowice between August 28 and September 4. The top four seeds of each group qualify for the Round of 16 and switch to a single-elimination tournament to be played from September 6 to 14 in Riga.
Photo Credit: FIBA