FIBA World Cup qualifiers are taking place this summer and even though Luka Doncic decided not to suit up for Slovenia, the Los Angeles Lakers are still well-represented as the newly-acquired Sandro Mamukelashvili is playing for Georgia.
Mamukelashvili looked great in his team’s first exhibition game, and followed that up with another strong performance on Friday as George cruised to an easy 101-74 win over Montenegro in their first FIBA World Cup qualifying game.
It was a wire-to-wire win for Georgia in which Mamukelashvili had 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals while shooting 6-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. The Lakers big man was an impressive plus-36 in 36 minutes of action and had a couple of highlight plays:
WELCOME TO THE MAMU SHOW 🍿🇬🇪#FIBAWC x @Mamukelashvili5 | @Lakers pic.twitter.com/fc4aN5AYAj
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 28, 2026
THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE WHEN MAMU AND GOGA ARE ON THE COURT ❤️🇬🇪 #FIBAWC x @Mamukelashvili5 @GogaBiitadze pic.twitter.com/7GwWIz7hAK
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 28, 2026
Mamukelashvili and Georgia will return to the court on Monday against Portugal, which should be an important game if they want to qualify for the FIBA World Cup. After that one, there will be two more qualifying games in November and two in February or March. That is, of course, during the NBA season so Georgia would have to get by without Mamukelashvili and others.
With the Lakers reporting for training camp in about a month, Mamukelashvili should have a bit of a head start on the rest of the team after playing in these FIBA World Cup qualifying games. He was also in attendance for the team’s recent minicamp in Slovenia.
Sandro Mamukelashvili explains what Lakers fans can expect from him
Mamukelashvili is coming off a breakout season with the Toronto Raptors, although he is still a relatively unknown player across the league. With that being the case, Mamukelashvili explained what fans can expect from him this upcoming season.
“What you can expect from me on the court is hustle. Never giving up,” Mamukelashvili recently said. “Making sure I don’t take possessions off. Play hard, make the right decisions, but at the same time, just somebody who embraces being a Laker. Understanding how big it is to be a part of this big family. I want to win a championship, so every day I’ll come out there and play hard and try everything to get us as close to that as possible.”
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