Mavs WATCH: Luka Doncic FIBA World Cup Full Highlights
Luka Doncic played an instrumental role in Slovenia achieving its greatest finish ever at the FIBA World Cup by averaging 27.0 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 2.5 steals. The team finished seventh and had previously never advanced to the quarterfinals.
Doncic became the first player in the last 30 years to finish a single World Cup tournament with totals of at least 300 points, 50 rebounds, and 40 assists. His production earned him a place on the All-Star Five team — an acknowledgement of the tournament's top performers. Other players to be included were Dennis Schroder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
The potential that having Doncic gives any team enabled Slovenia to believe in its chances of accomplishing lofty goals at the World Cup. After losing Edo Muric or Vlatko Cancar long before beginning group play in Okinawa, the team faced a tall task of earning a medal.
FIBA
"It wasn't a good ending," Doncic said of Slovenia's play in the quarterfinals. "We were hoping for something more. We lost Cancar, who is one of the best basketball players in Europe. It would help us a lot. It can be seen that we also lack Edo Muric, especially his combativeness. We had a lot of problems with injuries, but we fought in every possible way."
Doncic's full highlights are included in the embedded YouTube video below. Subscribe to my channel for more content about Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks throughout the upcoming 2023-24 NBA season.
The Mavs will begin training camp on Sept. 27 in preparation for the upcoming season. The team is among the few to begin early as a result of participating in NBA Global Games in Abu Dhabi with two matches against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 5 & 7, then an exhibition game versus Real Madrid in Spain on Oct. 10.
To open the regular season, the Mavs will take on a San Antonio Spurs team that will feature Victor Wembanyama at Frost Bank Center.
