Lakers Have 'Zero Problems' with Luka Doncic Playing in EuroBasket After Injury Scare

Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Doncic caused a brief moment of panic when he appeared to suffer a knee injury while playing for his home country Slovenia in a warm-up game for this summer's EuroBasket tournament.

Still, the Lakers aren't looking to stop Doncic from representing his national team this year or at any point in the future.

"Zero problems," Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka told The Athletic's Dan Woike of Doncic's participation in EuroBasket. "I mean, it's just something that we believe in for the Lakers organization."

Pelinka and Lakers governor Jeanie Buss attended Doncic's final practice with the Slovenian national team before the start of the tournament on Thursday against Poland. To be fair, they likely wouldn't be able to limit the 26-year-old's participation with his home team in the offseason even if they tried.

"It's an easy choice," Doncic told Woike, reaffirming his commitment to playing for Slovenia. "I always want to represent my country. Always did. No matter what. Obviously, if I'm injured, I'm not gonna play, but if I have nothing, I will always play."

In addition to Pelinka and Buss, other members of the Lakers' brass like Kurt and Linda Rambis and director of player performance and health Dr. Leroy Sims made the trip to get a look at Doncic and the Slovenian national team.

"We just wanted to make a statement to Luka that we support what he does for his country. That's really important to the Lakers when we have a player that's the face of our franchise, just to show that support for him," Pelinka said. "And it's just great to see him with his teammates, interacting, having fun. As you said, he is in great shape, really committed to working hard this summer, and to be able to watch that in person was worth flying over the ocean to come be with him."

Pelinka added that there are no concerns from the Lakers regarding Doncic being ready for the start of the 2025-26 NBA season. As star forward LeBron James winds down his legendary career, Los Angeles is hoping to compete for a championship this year, and Doncic remains the key for their chances to contend for a title.

"We want to let him focus and dedicate to this tournament, EuroBasket, and not distract him in any way," Pelinka said. "We want him to a hundred percent be able to play for his country with pride, and he'll turn his attention to the Lakers as soon as this tournament ends, hopefully with them going far and maybe winning."