An athlete carries an immense responsibility when they are playing. Surely, they not only represent themselves but their fans, their state, and their whole country. Therefore, they are probably under constant pressure to give their best so they don’t disappoint anyone. The Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic played for the Slovenian National Team and fans were excited to see their favorite player in action.

While the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 is coming to an end, the quarterfinals between Poland and Slovenia took place on September 14 in Berlin. Evidently, fans anticipated Slovenia’s win, but the team, unfortunately, lost to Poland by 90-87.

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Nevertheless, Doncic congratulated the Poland National Team and complimented them on their performance. Furthermore, he added that it was a big achievement for their team.

Fans defend Luka Doncic after Slovenia’s defeat

After Slovenia’s disappointing defeat in the quarterfinals, a press conference was held. During the press conference, a reporter asked Doncic if he was alright as he seemed physically weak.

Doncic replied “I don’t know…probably not uh..100%. I received injection in third quarter. I’ve been dealing with a lot, this EuroBasket. But that’s not the reason you know…today I played terrible. I let my team down, I let the whole country, who was supporting us, down and that’s on me. And I gotta look back at this game and be better.”?

This short clip of the press conference uploaded on Twitter captured the heart of NBA fans. Responding to the tweet, fans of Doncic came to his defense. Furthermore, they were awed by the sheer dedication Luka showed towards his country and his people, and the game of basketball, in general, battling through adversities. Therefore, NBA fans flooded social media to display their appreciation of the Slovenian magician. Let’s take a look at some of the tweets.

https://twitter.com/twittingjurij/status/1570292717024059394?s=20&t=NMqRzZnbkJCUkoy0OniV7g

Although, Slovenia was leading the first half of the game by scoring 23 points, they fell short in the second half. Whereas, Doncic had scored 14 points including 7 assists. But he fouled out in the last three minutes of the game. Mateusz Ponitka, from the Poland National Team, scored 26 points along with 16 rebounds and 10 assists. The team will be facing off against France in the semifinals.

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As for Doncic, fortunately, he will get a few days’ rests, given his injured state. The Dallas Mavericks’ training will start in about two weeks. They will be going against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 19.