Here’s why Luka Dončić won’t be playing at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Slovenia

Luka Dončić won’t be at the 2024 Paris Olympics this year. Here’s why.

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Dončić is one of the best basketball players on the planet.

However, he will not be competing at this year’s Paris Olympics for the Slovenia men’s national team.

Why won’t NBA fans get a chance to see Dončić playing for Slovenia in the 2024 Paris Olympics? The reason is pretty simple.

Dončić and Slovenia were eliminated in the 2024 Olympics qualifying tournament by Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece earlier month, closing out their Olympic journey before the Games got underway.

Perhaps Dončić and Slovenia will fare better in four years once the Olympic Games head to Los Angeles. For now, they’ll be on the outside looking in.

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24 national hoops teams who will compete for the final 4 spots in the 2024 Olympics

Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo need these tournaments to make the Olympics.

Only 12 national teams will compete to win basketball gold at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and we already know eight of the competitors.

24 teams, however, are eligible to compete for the final four spots in the tournament. The following teams, many of which qualified based on their play at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, will be divided into four groups of six at the FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July 2024.

Each tournament will be hosted by one of the six participating national federations. Each continent is expected to host one of the four FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

The winner of each of these four tournaments will join the eight teams that have already qualified, including the USA and Canada, at the Paris Olympics.

Some of the national teams with the most medals in Olympic basketball history (e.g. Spain, Brazil, Lithuania and Italy) are among those who will have to fight for a spot in Paris.

Several notable players (e.g. Slovenia’s Luka Doncic, Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Dominican Republic’s Karl-Anthony Towns, Finland’s Lauri Markkanen and Latvia’s Kristaps Porzingis) will need to use this tournament to advance as well.