Luka Doncic aims to play in Olympics with Slovenia

Luka Doncic intends to compete in next month's Paris Olympics, if his knees allow him to play more games and help Slovenia qualify soon, following a season in which he and the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals.

Slovenia on Wednesday announced a list of 16 players, including Luka Doncic, who is hopeful for a spot on the squad that will compete in an Olympic qualification competition in Greece beginning July 2. If Slovenia wins the event, which also includes Greece, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Croatia, and Egypt, it will join the 12-team men's field at the Paris Games, which begin in late July.

As per AP News, "If it's good, I'm going to go play," Doncic said Wednesday at NBA Finals media day in Boston, adding that the knee injury he's been dealing with in the playoffs is the only anticipated impediment. 

Doncic has represented Slovenia on a variety of international platforms, including the Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed back to 2021 because to the pandemic. He's competed in EuroBasket twice and for Slovenia in last year's World Cup, which concluded only a few weeks before the Mavericks entered training camp for the season.

Luka Doncic playing for Dallas Mavericks

The league's reigning scoring champion was informed Wednesday that, depending on the length of the NBA Finals, he might play 90 to 95 games this season. Doncic believes the number is significantly greater.

If the series between the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics lasts seven games, Doncic will still be playing on June 23. Slovenia hosts an exhibition against Brazil to prepare for the tournament in Greece on June 28, so Doncic might go from club to national team in the same week. Doncic scored 48 points in his Olympic debut game in 2021, marking the second highest in any men's Olympic game and falling seven points short of breaking Brazil's Oscar Schmidt's record of 55 set in 1988.