The Mavs superstar, Luka Doncic, has been making headlines recently for his exceptional performance in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. Despite Slovenia being ousted from the medal race, Doncic continued to impress with his skills, leading Slovenia to a win over Italy in the 7-8 classification game with 89-85 points. With this win, Slovenia finished in 7th place in the FIBA World Cup. 

After averaging 19.8 points per game and playing the maximum time, Luka got real about the heartbreaking loss and fatigue. His fatigue was evident in the final game of the tournament when Slovenia lost to Argentina in the quarterfinals. Doncic scored just 10 points and had six turnovers. Meanwhile, the NBA’s upcoming season is nearing and Luka is committed to playing for Slovenia. There are concerns about the Mavs’ biggest star, barring any major injury. 

Doncic gets real about his fatigue in the tournament 

Behind the scenes, Doncic has been struggling, and he gets real talking about the heartbreaking loss and a tiring tournament. In a recent interview after Slovenia’s loss to Lithuania, Doncic revealed he had difficulty sleeping and that his legs felt heavy. “It was difficult to sleep yesterday,” Doncic said. “I haven’t slept much. The sensations are still very strange. The legs were heavy. I hope we play better in the next game. But we have to see how my leg will be”. He said this right before his game with Italy.

Luka still played his most minutes. He made 29 points, and 10 rebounds, and just missed, a triple-double with 8 assists. The fatigue was evident, “I played a lot of minutes,” Doncic said. “I was always playing 35, 40 minutes. It was just too much.”

Doncic is determined to play for both Slovenia and Mavs 

After losing to Canada, Slovenia no longer had a pathway to compete for a medal and could not earn automatic qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Despite this setback, Doncic remained determined to play for his national team. “As I have said many times, whenever I can, I will play for the national team. There is no question for me. The crowd here is cheering for us, so the atmosphere is really great”, he said.

READ MORE: Despite Being NBA’s “Most Hated Player”, 27YO Star Earns Luka Doncic’s “Respect” at the FIBA World Cup

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