Why is Luka Doncic not playing in the 2024 Olympic Games basketball?

Luka Doncic has tried to battle on several fronts at once, particularly with limited support, but did not survive. He agreed to represent his beloved Slovenia in the Pre-Olympics competition despite being heavily burdened from the NBA Finals he played against the Celtics, under the influence of painkillers after only a week of real rest. The task was daunting: to win a challenging men’s basketball mini-tournament for access to the Paris Games, and, as if that weren’t enough, to try to eliminate Greece, featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates, on their home court.

Doncic out, Antetokounmpo remains

In the group stage, they scraped through with a victory against New Zealand in a must-win game. They would go no further. The Greeks dominated from the start, sweeping them 96-68. This revealed the impact of a weaker roster compared to previous years, when the key was not only Luka but also the support he had from players like Prepelic, Blazic, Tobey, and the Dragics. And, of course, Doncic’s form was far from ideal. Greece expertly exploited weaknesses across the board and now advance to the final, where they will face the winner of the Dominican Republic-Croatia match on Sunday.

Doncic was effectively contained by Greek players to minimize his impact, evidenced by his reaching double digits in turnovers, recording ten. Two of Greece’s guards excelled in attack as well as in applying defensive pressure: Thomas Walkup, a versatile player for Olympiacos, and the veteran guard Vasileios Toliopoulos. The only positive reaction from Nikolic’s team came in the second quarter, when they briefly narrowed the gap to just under twenty points, which quickly dissipated given the limited resources available in the squad.

Greece end Doncic’s Slovenia dream

A 28-point gap was established from the opening tip-off. Until Luka found some rhythm, it was a rout: the Mavericks’ star made only one shot in the first quarter. This act ended with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by the aforementioned Toliopoulos, which shattered the fragile morale of the Slovenian troops. By that point, the score was 32-14. The hosts played smartly until they decided to close out the game. In the last period, they added another 15-point margin.

A game without much story. Slovenia, fourth at the Tokyo Games and with a historic performance by their most distinctive player, will not repeat their Olympic journey. Doncic finished with balanced stats, scoring 21 points, grabbing 7 rebounds, dishing out 5 assists, and shooting 7/14 from the field, but far from the dominant level required to beat Greece and a Giannis who didn’t need to deploy his MVP caliber (scoring just 13 points in 21 minutes).