Superstar Luka Doncic may be thousands of miles from Los Angeles, but the Lakers made sure he didn’t feel far from home.
Lakers executives Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss paid a visit to Doncic in Slovenia's final practice ahead of the team's FIBA EuroBasket 2025 opener against Poland.
The Lakers executives even shared a snap with the whole team in an apparent show of solidarity with Doncic.
Pelinka reiterated that the organization has “zero problems” with its star player representing his home country.
That stance comes despite Doncic sustaining an injury scare in a tune-up game against Great Britain, later diagnosed as a knee contusion.
“I mean, it’s just something that we believe in for the Lakers organization and their leadership, and obviously, their executives have been great. It’s been a collaborative partnership with them,” Pelinka said.
“We had one of our Los Angeles Lakers coaches, Greg St. Jean, added to the staff just for support. So we’ll continue to support Luka throughout his career so he can do great things for the Lakers and for the Slovenian national team,” he added.
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka has “zero problems” with Luka Doncic playing the Slovenian national team ahead of the NBA season 🗣 #EuroBasket
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) August 27, 2025
Earlier this month, Doncic signed a three-year, $165 million maximum extension to stay in Los Angeles after arriving in one of the most seismic trades in recent NBA history — a blockbuster deal that also involved Anthony Davis.
[ALSO READ: Lakers sign Luka Doncic to maximum extension]
Through 28 regular season games with the Purple and Gold squad, he logged 28.2 points, 8,1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists as LA made the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the West opening round.
Soon after signing his deal, Doncic joined Slovenia’s preparations for the tournament, with the team going 1-5 in its buildup. Doncic and Slovenia are eyeing redemption after a quarterfinal exit in the 2022 edition.
[ALSO READ: After signing Lakers extension, Luka Doncic joins Slovenia’s build-up for EuroBasket 2025]
He and Slovenia are eyeing redemption after a quarterfinal exit in the 2022 edition. Slovenia won EuroBasket in 2017, with Doncic just a 17-year-old rising star at the time.
