As Luka Doncic continues torching opponents in EuroBasket, one of JJ Redick’s assistants has detailed the Lakers’ growing relationship with the Slovenian national team. In addition to evaluating Doncic’s progress, Greg St. Jean has reportedly talked strategy with Slovenia’s head coach, Aleksander Sekulic.
Lakers-Slovenia Connection Gets New Layer at EuroBasket
Greg St. Jean: Slovenia Has Used Lakers Tactics in Tournament
In a Sept. 1 interview with BasketNews, St. Jean—who is also on Slovenia’s staff for EuroBasket—said he’s spoken to Sekulic about how to maximize Doncic with the Lakers. Their discussions have led to the two teams swapping strategies.
“Coach Sekulic is a fantastic coach, and obviously, he has a great system and has had a lot of success here with the national team. He’s coached Luka and known him for a long time. We had a relationship prior, in 2022, so we’ve talked a little bit about some different ways to utilize Luka. … And we’ve tried to all come together and put our basketball brains together to try to set our team up for success. And we’ve used a few things from the Lakers. Obviously, there’s been some stuff that we’ve used from his [Sekulic’s] book. It’s been a great partnership.”
The Lakers’ top assistant added that he’s taken notes on other EuroBasket competitors, hoping to bring part of their playbooks back to LA.
“Obviously, Luka is someone who’s growing and evolving. He’s getting better every single day. But there are things that we see in the tournament, whether it’s an opponent doing it or we’re doing it, that I’ll sit there and I’ll take my notes and say, ‘Hey, that’s something that would be great for us to try with the Lakers. Or that’s something I haven’t seen in the NBA.’ There’s a lot of really good players and really good coaches over here. So, I’m just trying to learn as much as possible.”
Slovenia’s running a ton of the same exact sets that the Lakers ran last season
— Cranjis McBasketball (@Tim_NBA) September 4, 2025
Doncic Continuing to Thrive at EuroBasket
The 26-year-old has been a revelation in this year’s EuroBasket. He’s averaging a tournament-high 32.8 points along with 8.4 assists and eight rebounds per game. Doncic is also coming off a 37-point performance against Israel Thursday, where he shot 12/21 from the field (57.1%) and 4/11 (36.4%) from deep. Additionally, he tallied 11 rebounds, nine assists, three steals and a block as part of his third 30-point game of the tournament.
Luka’s Offseason Dominance Will Only Help Lakers
Doncic’s EuroBasket stint has only helped his preparation for the Lakers’ 2025-26 campaign, with the team poised to benefit from his physical transformation and improved two-way skill set. He is also working on his catch-and-shoot game and off-ball movement, two aspects worth following as Slovenia’s EuroBasket run continues.
The Lakers’ front office has also championed his summertime play, going great lengths to show their support. Governor Jeanie Buss and President/GM Rob Pelinka made the trip to Slovenia to watch Doncic and the team’s final practice last week.
“We just wanted to make a statement to Luka that we support what he does for his country,” Pelinka told The Athletic. “That’s really important to the Lakers when we have a player that’s the face of our franchise, just to show that support for him.”
“We want to let him focus and dedicate to this tournament, EuroBasket, and not distract him in any way,” he added. “We want him to a hundred percent be able to play for his country with pride, and he’ll turn his attention to the Lakers as soon as this tournament ends, hopefully with them going far and maybe winning.”
Doncic and Slovenia have advanced to the Round of 16, a nod they earned after defeating Iceland Tuesday. They face Italy on Sunday, Sept. 7 at 11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT.
© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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