The Los Angeles Lakers are playing a fun preseason game on Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors as they prepare for the 2025-26 NBA season.
Well, some of them are playing.
Luka Doncic isn’t out there, which is a bummer for L.A. basketball fans. But it’s for good reason.
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Why is Luka Doncic not playing tonight?
The Lakers announced last week that Doncic wouldn’t play in either of their first two preseason games, first on Friday then on Sunday.
On Friday, the Lakers made this announcement about Doncic, via ESPN’s Dave McMeniman:
“Luka Doncic is out tonight, per the Lakers. And will not play against the Warriors on Sunday either. LAL is being mindful of the long term with Doncic coming off EuroBasket.”
Doncic was the star this summer at EuroBasket for Slovenia, carrying an extremely heavy workload while trying to carry out national pride.
A long summer like that can certainly throw off the body calendar from a season with a clear offseason.
Doncic is in much better shape this season, with Men’s Health even doing a cover story on him, so that conceptually should help him hit the ground running once he gets back in games. He certainly seemed to be his best self during EuroBasket.
The Lakers also aren’t playing LeBron James at this point in the preseason, so there’s not a lot of value to playing Doncic. L.A. would certainly want their on-court chemistry to continue to improve.
The Lakers will open the regular season on Oct. 21 at home against the Golden State Warriors.
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