The new and improved Luka Donsic has returned to action to represent his country.
Luka Doncic has played his first game since the LA Lakers’ first round playoff elimination in early June.
Don Sic took a month’s break from basketball, focusing purely on improving his body and conditioning, proudly showing off his results, earning praise from Magic Johnson.
Now he’s back on the court again, with both teams playing towards Germany and Slovenia with friendly international fixtures in preparation for the upcoming Eurobasket competition.
Luka Doncic admitted before the game that it was unclear how many minutes he would play and would be led by his fitness.
He played 24 minutes and scored 19 points, including 6 for 6 from the 3-point range. He also grabbed three rebounds and posted five assists.
Donsic’s efforts were not enough to prevent Slovenia from falling into an 89-103 defeat to Germany.
The Lakers star was the most points in the game, with Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner winning 18 in Germany and along with Real Madrid’s David Kramer.
Luka Donsic is the biggest star of Slovenian sports and has great interest in his career in LA, perhaps even more so when he represents his national team.
National Outlet Ekipa pointed out how the “offensive” German team assured the game was “far from friendly.”
Their report stated, “Luca had four personal fouls by the end of the first half. Of course, he played more reserved, especially in defense.”
Slovenian Sports Site 24ur.com wrote:
They added: “Donsic was also very active in defense and stopped some of his opponent’s offenses. It quickly became clear that despite the Los Angeles Lakers basketball player’s first game since May, it was in good health.”
Sportklub reported that Donsic “recovered his basketball lungs” and “showed his competitive passion,” and discussed with Moritz Wagner on the German bench.
They added that it was a “soft performance” and that Donsic clearly has a lot of reserves.
Slovenia and Germany will compete again on August 10th with another friendly.