Luka Doncic now has a diagnosis after suffering a frightening injury in EuroBasket play on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic has been diagnosed with a right knee contusion, veteran NBA writer Marc Stein reported to Substack. Stein further notes that Doncic’s injury is not believed to be serious.
Doncic was injured while suiting up for his native Slovenia during Saturday’s exhibition contest against Latvia. During the third quarter, Slovenia’s Gregor Horvat was playing defense on the perimeter when he went flying into the paint, where Doncic was standing stationary. Horvat fell onto Doncic’s right leg, and the two crumpled to the court in a heap (video here).
A contusion, otherwise called a bruise, is probably a best-case scenario for Doncic, all things considered. Slovenia, who lost to Latvia 100-88, has two more exhibition games before starting formal group-stage play at EuroBasket on Aug. 28.
Dan Woike of The Athletic further reports that Doncic still intends to compete for his country at EuroBasket after the scare. As such, the five-time NBA All-Star will have roughly 12 days to recover before the group-stage opener.
Doncic (along with fellow star teammate Goran Dragic) helped lead Slovenia to the EuroBasket title back in 2017 when he was just 18 years old. However, they finished just sixth in the competition during the last time that it was held in 2022, failing to advance past the quarterfinal round. With 2025 marking the last EuroBasket until 2029, it appears that Doncic intends to gut it out with Slovenia and try to bring home another EuroBasket title.
