Shortly after the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night, Lakers star Luka Dončić announced via an Instagram story that he will not be playing with the Slovenian national team this summer so he can focus on spending time with his daughters.
Dončić, who wrote the message in both Slovenian and English, is in the midst of a custody battle over his two daughters with ex-fiancée Anamaria Goltes. His oldest, Gabriela, is 3, while his youngest, Olivia, was born this past December.
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“I love my daughters more than anything, and they will always come first in my life. As I continue working toward joint custody of my daughters, I have been forced to make a difficult decision between traveling and playing for the Slovenian national team and being with my daughters this summer.
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“Unfortunately, it has been made extremely difficult for me to see them over the past eight months.”
Luka Dončić says he will not play for Slovenia this summer, as he focuses on securing joint custody of his daughters. pic.twitter.com/1HdDc0WwE5
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) May 12, 2026
Dončić and Goltes announced that they had ended their engagement in March. At the time, Dončić said in a statement that he was working to bring his daughters to the United States. Goltes had filed a petition for child support and attorney’s fees, according to TMZ.
“I love my daughters more than anything, and I’ve been doing everything I can for them to be with me in the U.S. during the season, but that hasn’t been possible, so I recently made the tough decision to end my engagement,” Dončić said in the statement. “Everything I do is for my daughters’ happiness, and I will always fight to be with them and give them the best life I can.”
Dončić has not played for the Lakers since suffering a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2. He missed the entire playoffs but still finished the season as the NBA’s scoring champion, averaging 33.5 points per game. In his absence, the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round before being swept by the defending champion Thunder in the second round.
“If I could be out there, I would be out there 100 percent,” the 27-year-old Dončić told reporters after Game 4, adding that he expects to be cleared for contact practice next week.