The run for Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic at FIBA EuroBasket 2025 has come to an end. Doncic led Slovenia into the quarterfinals against a heavily favored Germany squad led by Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner and despite a very strong start, they were not able to hold on in the fourth quarter, coming up short in the end and being eliminated.
Even still, Doncic went out with another exceptional performance finishing with 39 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists in the loss. Many would argue that Luka was the best player in the entire tournament and the shape that he has gotten in this offseason seemed to benefit him on both ends of the floor during this tournament.
But Wagner couldn’t really tell the difference as he felt the Lakers superstar was just as amazing as he has always been throughout the years, via Edvinas Jablonskis of BasketNews:
“He’s like that all the time, so I see no difference really,” Franz Wagner said after the game. “Extremely good player. If he got a little bit better, he might have, but it’s tough to tell with him.”
For someone like Wagner, who has faced off with Doncic plenty of times over the years, this performance from the Lakers superstar was right in line with all the rest as he has been a dominant force both in the NBA and internationally for a long time. As he noted, Luka may have gotten a little better in some areas, but when you’re already that good, it can be hard to tell the difference.
In seven games at EuroBasket, Doncic averaged 34.7 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 2.7 steals. His scoring leads the entire tournament while he ranked second in assists and eighth in rebounds. Perhaps most surprising is the steals, which also tops all players at EuroBasket and is likely where the biggest improvement in Luka can be seen as he was noticeably more active on the defensive end and even was nominated for Best Defensive Player in the tournament.
Even minor improvements for Doncic can make a huge difference and after a showing like this at EuroBasket, he has given Lakers fans plenty to look forward to heading to the upcoming season.
Lakers’ Luka Doncic angry but proud of Slovenia after loss to Germany at EuroBasket
There is no question that Luka Doncic is an extremely fierce competitor so it is no surprise that he was angry following Slovenia’s loss to Germany at EuroBasket, but the Lakers superstar was also very proud of his country for the fight they gave in defeat.
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