Prior to the start of FIBA EuroBasket 2025, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic made it clear that his goal was to lead his home country of Slovenia to a medal. Things got off to a rough start in the group stage, however, as Slovenia dropped their first two contests to Poland and France, leading some to wonder if they would even make it to the knockout stage.
But Slovenia was able to turn things around, due in large part to the play of Doncic, who has arguably been the best player in the entire tournament. Luka leads the tournament in both points and steals per game while ranking second in assists as Slovenia ended group play with three consecutive victories over Belgium, Iceland and most recently Israel to qualify for the round of 16.
But now things get really tough for the Lakers star as the knockout stage bracket has been revealed and Slovenia will take on Italy in the round of 16:
THE ROAD TO THE #EUROBASKET TROPHY 🏆 pic.twitter.com/WFhqxgP8xU
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) September 4, 2025
Doncic and Slovenia’s round of 16 game against Italy is schedule for Sunday, Sept. 7 at 8:30 a.m. PT in Latvia.
Slovenia and Italy weren’t in the same group, so they have yet to square off in EuroBasket. Italy went 4-1 in its five group play games, losing to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece but beating Georgia, Bosnia, Spain and Cyprus.
Simone Fontecchio, now of the Miami Heat, has been Italy’s best player to this point while Danilo Gallinari, Nicolo Melli, Mouhamet Diouf and Saliou Niang have been some other key contributors.
The winner of Slovenia-Italy will move on to the quarterfinals where they will play the winner of Germany-Portugal. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9 and Wednesday, Sept. 10. The semi-finals will then be on Friday, Sept. 12, before the the tournament concludes with the third place game and final on Sunday, Sept. 14 when a new champion will be crowned with Spain not advancing past the group phase.
Knockout round games will continue to be broadcast on FIBA’s Courtside 1891 website as well as DAZN, although a paid subscription is needed.
Slovenia coach praises Luka Doncic after historic triple-double
Luka Doncic has had to go to a whole other level to lead Slovenia through this group stage, which included posting just the fifth triple-double in EuroBasket history in their victory over Belgium. And after that performance, Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic had a ton of praise for the Lakers star.
“That’s what Luka does,” Sekulic said. “The thing is that I saw he made a triple-double, but what impresses me is the way he approached this game, knowing that we are a better team with better individuals. Even though he never underestimated anyone and he was locked in from the first to last minute. That only just shows the greatness, not only the stats, but his mindset.”
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