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Luka Doncic says the Lakers support him playing in EuroBasket 2025

Luka Doncic says the Lakers support him playing in EuroBasket 2025

USA Today6 days ago
Later this summer, Luka Doncic will represent his native Slovenia in EuroBasket 2025, one of the biggest basketball tournaments in the world. After agreeing to a three-year, $165 million contract extension with the Los Angeles Lakers this past weekend, he traveled to Europe to prepare for the competition, which will begin on Aug. 27 and extend into mid-September.
Slovenia's first warm-up game will take place on Friday, Aug. 7, which means that Doncic will be playing at least four weeks of competitive basketball before the Lakers open up training camp.
Some fans may not like the idea of Doncic playing high-level basketball for a good chunk of the offseason. But according to Ekipa, a sports news outlet in Slovenia, he said the Lakers support him taking part in EuroBasket (translated from Slovenian).
'They support me, they really support me and encourage me to the maximum.'
The Lakers are Doncic's team and franchise now, which means that they're catering to him, at least to a certain extent. He has gotten into much better shape this summer, which means he should be better equipped to handle what will essentially be a shorter offseason for him.
There is also an argument that by playing in EuroBasket, Doncic will be closer to being in basketball shape when training camp starts than he would be otherwise.
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