Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic played his first regular-season game of the 2023-24 campaign all the way back on Oct. 25.
Depending on how long the NBA Finals go against the Boston Celtics, Doncic’s final game of the season could come on June 17.
Talk about an absolutely grueling schedule for the 25-year-old star.
Sure, other stars are in the same boat. This is not simply Doncic having to navigate through months and months of physical basketball.
But his situation is a bit different. While Celtics starsJayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday are set to take part in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris this year, Team USA has already qualified for the event.
The same thing can’t be said for Doncic’s Slovenian national team. They are set to take part in qualifying for the Olympics starting July 2. Apparently, Doncic has made a decision about whether he’ll play in the qualifiers.
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Luka Doncic attends to play for Slovenia in the Summer Olympic qualifiers
In talking to reporters during NBA Finals media day on Wednesday, Doncic confirmed that he plans on taking part in the qualifiers. Obviously, there is a caveat here. Doncic has been dealing with a knee sprain throughout the 2024 NBA Playoffs. It’s going to be all about whether the knee is good to go.
“If it’s good, I am going to play,” Doncic said, via The Athletic.
Doncic did play in the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021 due to COVID-19 pandemic). He averaged 23.8 points per game in Tokyo.
For foreign-born players such as Doncic, it’s important that they represent their home countries in the Olympics.
The qualifiers are set to be held in Greece. Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) are also slated to take part.
With the 2024 Summer Olympics set to get going in August, it certainly raises questions about just how grueling the NBA season is. We’ve seen other stars such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry play well into June while taking part in the Olympics in the not-so-distant past. Doncic will likely follow suit.