By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
After returning to the Slovenian senior national team following a grueling season with the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic spoke about his feelings about representing his country.
“It is always an honour to play for Slovenia,” he stressed in a press conference on Thursday, “Whenever I can, I will play. That’s what I always say.”
Doncic, 25, is tasked with helping Slovenia reach the 2024 Olympics by finishing first in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Piraeus, ahead of hosts Greece, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt and New Zealand. Coming weeks after losing to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, the tournament will be played from July 2-7. Before traveling to Greece, he will also play a warm-up game against Brazil at Arena Stozice on Friday.
“It was really hard to decide to play now because of the injuries and the length of the season, but here I am,” explained the captain of Slovenia.
“I didn’t think much about it. I knew that I would end up being part of the national team,” he added, “During the playoffs, I was focused on Dallas and the games, but I knew what it was going to be like. The Mavericks know I’ll play whenever I can.”
After Slovenia qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games, which will take place in 2021, via the OQT in Kaunas, the country is now hoping to continue in Greece. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who plays for the tournament host, is one of the NBA superstars on his way.
“I don’t think there is an answer to how to stop him. We all know what kind of player he is,” mentioned Doncic, “We can only try to limit his contributions.”
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