Luka Dončić Brings Lakers to Slovenia for Four-Day Training Camp
After LeBron James' Departure, the Slovenian Basketball Player Has Taken Over as the Undisputed Team Leader and Organized a Team-Building Retreat for the Entire Roster in His Homeland.
After LeBron James' Departure, the Slovenian Basketball Player Has Taken Over as the Undisputed Team Leader and Organized a Team-Building Retreat for the Entire Roster in His Homeland.
A new era for the Los Angeles Lakers officially began this summer with the departure of LeBron James (41), and Luka Dončić (27) is wasting no time putting his stamp on the team. According to information shared on social media by ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin, the Slovenian basketball player is organizing a four-day mini-camp for the entire Lakers squad in Slovenia in August 2026.
Although Dončić joined the Lakers back in February 2025 in a major trade, it was only after James' final departure that he fully assumed the leadership role, Sportske novosti reports. The four-time NBA champion and former MVP left the club in the spring of 2026, making the Slovenian national team player the undisputed leader of the team coached by JJ Redick.
The program, as Index.hr Sport reports citing ESPN, will include joint practices, rounds of golf, player bonding sessions, and a tour of Ljubljana and its tourist attractions. The focus is on team-building and giving teammates the chance to get to know Dončić's homeland better.
The camp will also serve to integrate eight new additions who have donned the jersey of the 17-time NBA champion this summer, N1 BiH writes. Traveling to Slovenia are Walker Kessler, Jaden Hardy, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Ziaire Williams, and Matisse Thybulle.
Austin Reaves will also attend, having signed a new four-year contract with the Lakers after lengthy negotiations. Dončić, Reaves, and James formed an exceptionally effective offensive trio last season.
Dončić faces a crucial season after the previous one, in which he was a leading MVP candidate, was abruptly cut short by a hamstring injury in early April 2026. Up to that point, he was averaging 33.5 points per game and was the league's leading scorer, but he missed the playoffs, where the Lakers were eliminated by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Lakers finished the 2025/26 regular season in fourth place in the West with a 53-29 record. The six-time All-NBA selection now wants to lead the team further.
This is not Dončić's first time organizing a team get-together. In October 2025, he funded a day for teammates at a Porsche Experience Center in Southern California, where they got to try out various luxury car models on a race track after practice, Index.hr Sport recalls.
