The past year or so has been chaotic for Luka Doncic personally. In March, the Los Angeles Lakers star said he’d “always fight” to be with his daughters and “give them the best life” while also announcing his breakup with Anamaria Goltes. By May, Doncic revealed he wouldn’t play for Slovenia this summer and would be with his kids. He even brought the LA squad to Ljubljana for a minicamp last month.
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Although the Lakers team returned to LA after minicamp, Doncic stayed back in his hometown for more family time. But with the Purple and Gold scheduled to begin training camp a week from now, Doncic will be traveling to LA. He couldn’t contain his emotions and posted a heartfelt note for Gabriela and Olivia.
“G+O, no matter where in the world your dad is, there isn’t a day when you’re not in my heart. Wherever I go, you’re always with me. I love you!” Doncic wrote in Slovenian on Instagram (translated by Google Translate).
Doncic and Goltes have been fighting in court over their children’s custody. The Lakers star filed for an interim injunction in February, seeking immediate contact with his daughters. A month later, Goltes filed a child support petition. Although she withdrew it by August “with the specific intention of resolving this matter amicably,” reports surfaced of a new $50 million settlement claim.
Sources with direct knowledge of the lawsuit told TMZ that Goltes was seeking $40 million for herself and $10 million for the girls. She also reportedly sought to modify Doncic’s custody rights, reducing them from two days a week to one day a week. But how did everything fall apart so badly in the power couple’s life?
It is important to note that neither of them has spoken about this publicly. According to ESPN, when Doncic took a leave of absence from the Lakers in December to witness the birth of Olivia in Slovenia, he also “expressed a desire” to bring his older daughter back with him to the U.S.
But Goltes disagreed with him, and a fight ensued. It led to her calling the police, even though Doncic “peacefully” left the hospital. The police met with both Goltes and Doncic separately, and the Lakers star then returned to LA. Notably, officers “did not detect any elements of a criminal offense or misdemeanor” on his part.
Doncic admitted he didn’t know how to describe his Slovenia trip when asked a few days later, saying, “It was a lot” and “definitely a roller coaster.”
Meanwhile, Goltes spent time cleaning up her social media, leaving no trace of her former partner. Then, a decade-in-review carousel post in which she showcased dozens of pictures from work, travel, and family had everything but the Lakers star.
“2016–2026. A decade of good times, hard lessons, and everything in between,” Goltes wrote in the caption. “Plenty of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change a single moment ❤️.”
The fanbase had already gotten a hint that things were not going well on the personal front in the Doncic household, and the headlines about the breakup, child custody, and settlement that followed only confirmed what everyone feared. Doncic and Goltes had been in a relationship long before his NBA career. She once said they met at a seaside camp in Croatia when they were kids.
Instead of publicly reflecting on all this, Doncic has spent the offseason getting fitter and building a stronger connection with his revamped Lakers team.
How Luka Doncic is gearing up for the new Lakers season
Luka Doncic missed the 2026 playoffs last season because of a Grade 2 left hamstring strain. He spent the entire postseason and much of the offseason undergoing full conditioning with longtime trainer Anze Macek. It has resulted in his recovery and also in him losing a ton of weight.
Lakers Nation’s Trevor Lane noted the striking difference, saying Doncic looks “skinnier” now than when he first arrived in LA this offseason.
Doncic’s attention is now fully on the Lakers, with NBA training camps opening on September 29. They then go through their preseason schedule, starting with the Sacramento Kings on October 6 and ending with the Denver Nuggets on October 17, before opening the regular season at home against the Golden State Warriors on October 21 at Crypto.com Arena.
The upcoming season will also look different for Doncic in LA. With LeBron James no longer on the roster, more responsibility will fall on the 27-year-old and Austin Reaves.
The Lakers also reshaped the roster around Doncic during the offseason, adding Walker Kessler, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes, Kevon Looney and Collin Sexton, among others, ahead of the new campaign. When asked about the new faces in the locker room and the team’s mindset earlier this month, Doncic had a positive outlook.
“I think we’re really good, we added a lot of talent, and I honestly believe we have everything we need to compete at the highest level,” Doncic said. “We’re not putting this group together just to have a good season. The goal is to win a championship. I feel like we have the players to do it, and honestly, I think it’s going to be hard for a team to beat us four times. Now it’s on us to go out there and prove it.”
For Doncic, though, his final message from Slovenia was about something beyond basketball. Before getting back to work with the Lakers, he made sure to tell his daughters that distance would not keep them from being part of his life.