Watch: Luka Doncic swishes skyscraping 3-pointer in FIBA World Cup 2023 practice session with Slovenia
Luka Doncic is preparing to lead the way for Slovenia in the 2023 FIBA World Cup, which tips off this Friday, Aug. 25.
Doncic and the rest of the Slovenian players have already arrived in Okinawa, Japan, where Group F action will be played. They will take on Georgia, Venezuela and Cape Verde, playing Venezuela in their opener on Saturday, Aug. 26.
With the team wrapping up its preparation for the major FIBA tournament, Luka Doncic was seen making an insane skyscraping three-pointer during practice. This is not the first time that the superstar of the Dallas Mavericks has hit such a tricky shot. He has done so multiple times both with Slovenia and the Mavs.
Luka Doncic aims to lead Slovenia to the podium in the FIBA World Cup
Luka Doncic is coming to the 2023 FIBA World Cup determined to lead Slovenia to the podium for the first time in the national team's World Cup history.
The Slovenian superstar wants to make up for a disappointing campaign at the 2022 FIBA EuroBasket, where his team finished sixth and failed to defend its 2017 title, even though they were one of the favorites in the tournament. Doncic got injured during the quarterfinals vs Poland and had to play through the injury, which cost Slovenia the win.
"I disappointed my team. I let my whole country down. It was my fault. I’ll be back. I will always play for Slovenia if I am not injured," Luka Doncic recently said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper AS.
Doncic, who averaged 26.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists in the EuroBasket, will be Slovenia's captain for the first time since joining the team back in 2017. Thus, he has his sights set on a deep run in the FIBA World Cup and a podium finish.
"It has been a very long summer for me, but I am very happy to be back on track. I haven’t played since April 10, so I’m looking forward to it. The objective is the same as always: when I go to a championship, what I have in mind is to win it. Then what happens is another thing, but the objective is always that," Doncic said during his interview with AS.
With Doncic in the lineup, the Slovenians won the 2017 EuroBasket, finished fourth in the 2021 Olympic Games and were sixth in the 2022 EuroBasket.
Slovenia's 12-man roster for the FIBA World Cup 2023 is as follows:
- Ziga Samar
- Aleksej Nikolic
- Klemen Prepelic
- Mike Tobey
- Jaka Blazic
- Gregor Hrovat
- Ziga Dimec
- Zoran Dragic
- Bine Prepelic
- Gregor Glas
- Jokib Cebasek
- Luka Doncic