“Nicolas Batum told me he hates playing against me”: Luka Doncic calls the France star a ‘class act’ following Slovenia defeat at Tokyo 2020

Luka Doncic shows his admiration for Nicolas Batum after France defeats Slovenia to advance to face off against USA and calls Batum a ‘class act’. 

Luka Doncic and his perfect streak of being undefeated in international play has officially ended after Slovenia fell to France, 90-89. France will now advance to face off against Team USA in a bout that will decide who wins Gold at Tokyo 2020 while Slovenia will square off against Patty Mills and the Boomers in a game that will settle who wins Bronze. 

The entirety of the Slovenia-France game saw Luka Doncic dominate in an extremely Luka-eque way. Though he merely shot 5-18 from the field, the shots he made were reminiscent of the ones he drains while on the Mavericks: step-back, high arcing shots from beyond the arc. However, the story of the night for Doncic was his playmaking.

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Luka dropped a whopping 18 assists and also notched the 3rd triple double in Olympic basketball history. LeBron James was the only other one to do so in the past 45 years. Unfortunately, his efforts were futile all thanks to a Giannis-esque block from Nicolas Batum. 

Luka Doncic shows love to Nicolas Batum following France’s victory over Slovenia. 

It’s quite bewildering to think about the fact that Nicolas Batum was thought of as dead weight when with the Charlotte Hornets merely a couple years ago. Now, following an incredible season with the Los Angeles Clippers and a run on Team France, his stock has definitely risen. 

The biggest play of the night in the Slovenia-France semis was undoubtedly Batum’s block that pinned a potential game-winning layup to the board, resulting in a one point victory. Following the game, Batum was seen consoling Luka Doncic as the latter sat on the Slovenia bench. 

In his media availability, Luka Doncic claimed that not only was Nicolas Batum a class act but that Batum admitted he hated playing against Luka, but in a good way.

🗣️ “Nicolas is a class act. He told me he hates playing against me, but in a good way. That was nice of him, he’s just a class act.”

– @luka7doncic 🇸🇮#Tokyo2020 | #Basketball pic.twitter.com/AsNJM3HiIB

— FIBA | #Basketball #Tokyo2020 (@FIBA) August 5, 2021

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The two have actually faced off against one another quite a lot this past year, most prominently in a grueling 7-game first round series that saw the Clippers best the Mavericks. It’s safe to say that Doncic cleared up any rumors of ‘bad blood’ between him and the French-man.