When the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic in 2024, he quickly built a nice chemistry with Jaxson Hayes both on and off the court.
Hayes is an athletic lob threat, which is the perfect type of big man to thrive playing with Doncic. In fact, their relationship grew so strong that Hayes has been trying to get a Slovenian passport so he can play with Doncic on the national team during the summers.
And Hayes was successful in that as he has officially obtained his passport, although the national team announced that he won’t be suiting up in FIBA World Cup qualifiers this summer:
Jaxson Hayes je postal slovenski državljan!
Šestindvajsetletni center (213 cm) je na slovenskem veleposlaništvu v Washingtonu podal prisego in prejel 🇸🇮 potni list.
Reprezentanci v prihajajočem kvalifikacijskem oknu še ne bo na voljo, a dolgoročno bo pomemben člen #mojtim 🇸🇮💪 pic.twitter.com/4xAnzPgX7P
— Košarkarska zveza SIovenije (@kzs_si) June 16, 2026
This has been in the works for a while as Hayes first announced it as a possibility during training camp before the 2025-26 season. Perhaps the most notable part of this report is that he won’t be playing this summer, although that also isn’t a huge surprise as Doncic already announced he won’t be either as he looks to spend more time with his family.
Starting next summer though, Hayes will be seen suiting up for Slovenia alongside Doncic in tournaments like the FIBA World Cup, EuroBasket, and, of course, the Olympics, which will be in Los Angeles in 2028.
In recent years, Doncic has had to be superman in order to give Slovenia a chance in these tournaments, so adding a quality big man like Hayes should only help them be more competitive.
Jaxson Hayes hoping to return to Lakers
While Hayes will be playing with Doncic for Slovenia, he also wants to keep playing with him on the Lakers. When discussing his future after the team was eliminated from the playoffs, the free agent expressed his desire to return to L.A. for a fourth season.
“Yeah, of course. I love this group of guys, I love this staff, I love this organization as a whole,” Hayes said after the Lakers were eliminated. “I grew up watching Kobe and I just love to be a Laker. I wear Kobes every day. I’d love to stay here, obviously. I hope so.”
Hayes is coming off arguably his best season with the Lakers and makes sense to return as a backup center option again next year.
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