Luka Doncic Praises 'Amazing' Support from Lakers During EuroBasket 2025

After Luka Dončić gave the Los Angeles Lakers a commitment earlier this summer by signing a contract extension, the club showed its support for the 26-year-old superstar by endorsing his decision to play for Slovenia in the EuroBasket tournament.

Speaking to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, Dončić praised the "amazing" response he received from Lakers officials, including general manager Rob Pelinka, governor Jeanie Buss, Kurt and Linda Rambis, and fans to his playing for his home country.

"The support from the Lakers organization and Laker Nation [was] amazing," he said. "It meant so much to me that Rob, Jeanie, Kurt, Linda and Dr. Sims came to Poland and that Lakers fans were watching EuroBasket and cheering for Slovenia."

McMenamin noted that, prior to every EuroBasket game, there was a group chat among many key members of the Lakers and Dončić's camp where the "general tone" of the messages from the team was, "Hey, whatever we can do to help, we're here."

Pelinka told McMenamin the Lakers understand that Dončić "has a tremendous amount of heartfelt pride and appreciation for his roots and playing for his country," and they wanted to be "mindful" of that passion to "support" it.

Even though Slovenia's EuroBasket run ended with a loss to Germany in the quarterfinals, Dončić's run throughout the tournament should have everyone in Los Angeles very excited about what his offseason body transformation will mean for the upcoming NBA season.

Dončić averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game in seven starts for Slovenia. He put up 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 28 starts for the Lakers after being acquired in a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, but his 45.0 field-goal percentage for the entire season was his lowest since he was a rookie in 2018-19 (42.7).

The Lakers will report to training camp on Sept. 29, leading up to their regular-season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21.