Luka Doncic spent the last few days hosting his Los Angeles Lakers teammates in his hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia for a team minicamp ahead of the 2026-27 season. It’s Doncic’s first real action as the team’s unquestioned face and leader, with a new-look roster by his side. Beyond just the fun of a multi-day trip, the Lakers also took the opportunity to give back to the community in celebration of Mamba Day.
Ljubljana and Slovenia are extremely important to Doncic. It’s where he spends the majority of his offseason, even making trips there when he has chances to during the season. So it likely was important for him to do some community work with his team while they were all there together, and they did so with a visit to some expectant parents and their newborns:
Luka Doncic and the Lakers joined UCLA Health in Ljubljana to bring the Los Angeles tradition and spirit of giving back to Luka’s hometown. To celebrate #MambaDay, Luka and his teammates surprised patients and families at University Medical Center in Ljubljana with Lakers newborn… pic.twitter.com/YOjwz7qd8X
— Lakers Nation (@LakersNation) August 24, 2026
It’s always great to see players giving back to their communities in meaningful ways. This way of giving back is extra special, though, for the entire Lakers roster. For Doncic, it’s a chance to really give back to his home community while being present, and to bring his whole team along with him.
For the rest of the team, it’s a chance to see another part of the world and provide joy and assistance to a community that they wouldn’t otherwise get to see or know about. This event alone likely made the entire multi-day minicamp a worthwhile success for Doncic and the entire Lakers roster before heading back to the states.
These are the types of events that can help teams build chemistry on the court, too, as they have had these cool bonding experiences halfway around the globe. Considering the Lakers brought in a lot of new players this offseason, this trip was crucial ahead of the start of training camp.
Dirk Nowitzki’s shooting coach helped Lakers in Slovenia
Photos and videos were posted from the team’s full workout together in Slovenia, and surprisingly present was the former shooting coach of Dirk Nowitzki. He was available to the Lakers to help out during their minicamp, as he and Doncic work together for various youth basketball initiatives in Slovenia.
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