Should Lakers’ Luka Doncic Sit Out EuroBasket After Injury Scare? ESPN Insider Answers

Doncic has already suffered one injury. Should he continue to risk a more serious injury by continuing to play?

Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers have been watching EuroBasket very carefully. This is a tournament in which Luka Doncic is representing his country, playing for Slovenia.

Doncic already suffered an injury in one of the games. He has already returned from that injury and will continue to play for Slovenia. Still, the Lakers can't be thrilled that happened.

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Los Angeles has supported his desire to play for his home country, but suffering an injury now would be the worst-case scenario. Surprisingly, one ESPN pundit believes Doncic should keep playing despite already getting hurt.

ESPN pundit believes Lakers' Luka Doncic should continue playing in EuroBasket

When asked if Doncic should continue playing while on "First Take," ESPN's Stephen A. Smith gave a surprising answer.

"If this is how he chooses to [get in basketball shape], I don't know him one bit."@stephenasmith has no issue with Luka Dončić playing in EuroBasket ✍️ pic.twitter.com/XRmDCTZCD0

— First Take (@FirstTake) August 18, 2025

“Normally, I would say yes, but in this case, I'm going to say no," Smith said. "He missed a lot of last season, obviously, before when he was in Dallas before he got traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. And he, even though he was out of shape, in a lot of people's eyes, he still averaged 28, eight, and seven."

Smith also cites the fact that players should get more adulation for playing in international competition for their countries.

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“I think it's important to remind everybody of what international players should be applauded for, which is something we lament with the American players: their level of dedication to their nation, wanting to represent their country," Smith added. "As often as they play in international competition, this is very, very important to them because their native citizens hold them accountable. This stuff matters to those folks."

The Lakers trust Luka Doncic to not get hurt while playing in EuroBasket

The Lakers don't think that this tournament is that big of an injury risk. He could get hurt while working out on his own, too. They'd rather have him be happy that he's playing for Slovenia.

Doncic is in the best shape that he's ever been in coming into a basketball season. It's highly unlikely that he will suffer an injury that would cause him to miss any time when training camp rolls around.

After being traded to the Lakers, Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game.

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