Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic is having a great run with the Slovenian men’s national basketball team at the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket. On Sunday, the Slovenians faced Italy and came away with an 84-77 victory, thanks to Doncic’s 42-point performance. The Lakers star also had 10 points and three assists in the game, which led Slovenia to the quarterfinal round against Germany.
Unfortunately for Doncic, he suffered an injury in the opening quarter. He collided with Italy guard Alessandro Pajola. The good news is, it wasn’t serious at that time and he was able to stay in the game. Though, he had to be in the locker room in the after the first quarter to get it checked with the medial staff.
The five-time All-Star returned to action and did most of the heavy lifting in the offensive end, and was one of two players who scored in double digits.
Following his national team’s win, Doncic talked to the media and gave an update about his injury. He told reporters that he can still feel the pain. However, he gave an assurance that he will be fine.
“Yes it hurts. I have go to get therapies now. But it will be fine,” Doncic said.
The Slovenian team haven’t given an update on the availability of the Los Angeles Lakers star for their next game.
Seeing Doncic take over pn the offensive end isn’t something new. Even before he was with the Los Angeles Lakers, he would often take over the game with his elite scoring ability. But watching him doing the usual stuff he does in the NBA internationally was mesmarizing.
After the game, he talked to the media about how he was able to take charge of the game. According to the five-time All-NBA, he explained how the defense allowed him to find his spots on the floor that eventually led him to put on an offensive masterclass.
“At first they started with ‘switch’ defense on me, then I scored a couple of points, so then they started doubling me. But as I said since the beginning before EuroBasket, we believe. We have a very very hard game against Germany now, but we have to believe,” Doncic said.
Doncic was locked in the game that he was caught on camera yelling at his teammates on the bench. Two of his teammates were arguing and the former Dallas Mavericks star stepped in to stop them and concentrate on beating Italy.
“Please pull yourselves together, it’s a 7 pt game. Stop bickering for every small thing, it’s us against them, not us against each other!”
Coach Luka saying something like “Please pull yourselves together, it’s a 7 pt game. Stop bickering for every small thing, it’s us against them, not us against each other!”
(I didn’t translate the expletives
) pic.twitter.com/IUpVnzT8xj
— SLO HOOPS FAN
(@SloHoopsFan) September 7, 2025
Doncic is showing that he is capable of leading a team, especially in crucial moments.
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