Luka Doncic's Paris Olympic bid hinges on NBA Finals as Mavs' superstar contemplates on suiting up for Slovenia

All-Star guard Luka Doncic addressed the possibility of playing for Slovenia in the Olympics this summer. The Dallas Mavericks star has played a ton of games this season as he led the team to a deep playoff run. The Mavs' postseason run has taken a toll on Doncic's body since he's also dealing with minor knee issues.

During the postseason, there's been concern about how well the knees of the five-time All-NBA will hold up. With this issue, there's a question about his availability to play for Slovenia in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. In his NBA Finals media availability, the star guard shared his thoughts on the matter.

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"I think we'll see how my knees, but if it's good, I'm gonna go play," Doncic said.

Doncic even mentioned that he has played a significant amount of games since last year's summer. Slovenia participated in the 2023 FIBA World Cup and the Mavs star was also their on-court leader. Doncic led the tournament in points per game with 27 and played eight games during his country's run.

The Dallas star led Slovenia to a seventh-place finish in the tournament. In the upcoming Olympic games, however, many are counting on Doncic to play and possibly lead the country to a deep run.

Aside from playing eight games last summer, he was available for 70 games this season for the Mavs. On top of that, he's played 17 games this postseason, which is the most games he's played in his career. Not to mention, those 17 games were all grueling as the playoff intensity is on a different level.

Slovenia is one of the 24 teams that are scheduled to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament. The games will take place on July 2-7 and the winners will get a chance to play in Paris.

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When can Luka Doncic join the Slovenian national team?

Rest might not be available for Luka Doncic as he could immediately go from playing in the Finals to being the leader for Slovenia. NBA Players will be able to join their respective national teams starting June 17. For Doncic, however, that could be difficult to do.

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If the best-of-seven-series against the Boston Celtics ends in four games (June 14), he'll have a few days of rest and join the team afterward. However, if it extends to seven games (June 23), he'll have no rest time in between.

To prepare themselves for the tournament, Slovenia will play against Lithuania and Brazil on June 23. But the real tournament to qualify for the Olympics will start on July 2. Doncic and his team are placed in Group A and will play against Croatia and New Zealand.

There's also a chance for them to run into the Dominican Republic, led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece for the next round.

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