After carrying a heavy load and playing through injuries to lead the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals, Luka Doncic is back on the court representing Slovenia in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament. After putting up a 36-point triple-double in Slovenia's win over New Zealand, Doncic cussed during his post-game interview because he was frustrated at missing his last 3-point shot of the game.
"Yes, I f*cked up. Oops, sorry. I'm tired, [and] I'm angry because I didn't make the last three-pointer."
Doncic had an incredible showing, putting up 36 points (6/13 2PT, 3/11 3PT, 15/18 FT), 11 rebounds, and 10 assists in a must-win contest for Slovenia. They needed to win by over 11 points to keep themselves alive in the Olympic Qualifiers and walked out with. a 104-78 win.
Slovenia will now need to win their two games to seal a spot at Paris 2024. Their next contest may be the most interesting of the entire Qualifiers, as Doncic's Slovenia faces off against Giannis Antetokounmpo 's Greece. Their qualifiers are also being held in Greece, so Giannis will have a raucous home crowd rooting for him over Doncic.
Is Luka Doncic Playing Too Much Basketball?
In the era of load management, we are too used to seeing players constantly miss games and fail to show up for their team when needed. Luka Doncic has been doing the opposite. He's never played more than 72 games in a season, which he did as a rookie, because his heavy offensive workload leads to injuries which causes him to miss time.
Last season, Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists through the regular season. He entered the postseason while battling injuries which got worse throughout the Playoffs. His play was impacted because of these injuries but he couldn't afford to take even a single game off.
He feels an even greater commitment to his national team, with a population of just 2 million. He explained why he's carrying such a heavy workload for his small nation .
"We're two million [population], and to represent this country means everything to me. I want to say thanks to Dallas for letting me play... I always know I'm going to play, so it's a big honor for me."
The Mavericks would never stop Doncic from representing his national team given how important it is to him. He truly is following in the footsteps of Goran Dragic, his mentor who also represented Slovenia every chance he could get during his playing career. That resulted in Slovenia's greatest basketball honor, winning the 2017 EuroBasket with Dragic as the MVP and an 18-year-old Doncic as a key player.
Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney is with the Slovenian national team this summer, so Doncic is being carefully monitored by someone from the Mavs organization while playing for Slovenia.
Doncic runs the risk of wearing his body down with his incredible workload. He will not be as well-rested heading into next season with the Mavs, where they're expected to replicate their Finals run through a tougher West.
Major additions such as Klay Thompson could alleviate his offensive load a little, but Doncic needs to find a way to manage himself to also fulfill his goal of bringing a title to Dallas.
Related: Luka Doncic And Kyrie Irving Could Sign A Whopping $586 Million Worth Of Contract Extensions
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