Stephen A. Smith Fully Supports Luka Doncic’s Decision to Play in EuroBasket Despite Injury Scare

This past Saturday, Luka Doncic made the entire Los Angeles Lakers franchise hold its breath. In an exhibition game ahead of the EuroBasket tournament, Doncic suffered a right knee contusion. Thankfully, nothing serious came from the incident. Of course, that didn’t prevent people from claiming that Luka’s involvement with the Slovenian national team is a conflict of interest with the Lakers. NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith had a unique approach to the situation.

Since the Lakers’ early elimination from the 2025 NBA playoffs, Luka Doncic has been the focus of much attention. The 6-foot-6 guard has lost a significant amount of weight and appears to be in the best shape of his career. Training wasn’t enough for Doncic, though, so he devoted himself to leading Slovenia in the European continental basketball tournament.

Doncic was in great health ahead of a friendly match against Latvia. Unfortunately, during the third quarter of that game, a teammate toppled into Doncic’s knee while on defense. The Lakers star immediately left the game. Further medical testing confirmed that Doncic avoided serious injury.

Luka and the Slovenian team expect the five-time All-NBA member to return to action soon. That decision hasn’t landed smoothly with fans. Many have taken to social media to vocalize their disagreement regarding Doncic’s decision to continue to participate in EuroBasket. Surprisingly, Stephen A. Smith has an opposing stance.

“[Doncic’s] out there trying to work himself into the best shape that he’s ever been in his life,” Smith said on ESPN’s First Take. “If this is how he chooses to do it, I don’t knock him one bit.”

Anticipating fan objection, Smith reminded everyone of the reality of the situation. It isn’t like Doncic was merely playing in a pro-am game for fun. Countless players have suffered drastic injuries in those settings, yet the frustration hasn’t been as high as it has been with Doncic.

Luka is playing for his country. It wasn’t that long ago that fans ridiculed American-born players for their lack of interest in representing the nation. In foreign countries, it’s an incredible honor to play for their country, so whenever they get the chance, they’ll take advantage.

“I think it’s important to remind everybody of what the international players should be applauded for, which is something that we lament with the American players: their level of dedication to their nation,” Smith said.

Luka isn’t just playing for Lakers fans during the course of an NBA season; he is also playing for Slovenia. “This is very important to them because their native citizens hold them accountable. This stuff matters to those folks,” Smith proclaimed.

If the injury had been serious, Doncic would certainly take necessary precautions to prevent further damage. However, the day after the incident, the five-time All-Star was active in practice and gearing up to return to the lineup. The Slovenian national team may be extremely cautious with Doncic and limit his play time till EuroBasket officially begins on August 27.