Can Luka Doncic still make it to the Olympics after loss vs Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Greece? Qualifications rules and more explored

Luka Doncic and the Slovenian basketball team suffered a blowout loss against Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Greece in the semifinal of the Olympic qualifier. With the loss, Donicic's Slovenia is officially out of the Olympic birth contention and Doncic has no alternate way left to make it to the Olympics.

According to Olympic rules, there are Group A and Group B in each of the categories based on the country that is hosting the qualifiers. Greece, Latvia, Spain, and Puerto Rico are the four hosts of the Olympic qualifier games. Countries participating in these categories will have to win the final to make it to the Olympics in Paris.

Although Antetokounmpo and his team registered their win against Slovenia, there is still a chance that they might get eliminated if they do not win the final game against the winner of another semifinal in Group A. In Group B, the Dominican Republic will face Croatia for the final appearance against Greece.

Luka Doncic had an absorbing 2023–24 NBA season. Thus, an early exit could be a blessing in disguise, as the young star will now have enough time to relax before the next season.

NBA analyst claims Luka Doncic and Mavs would have won NBA title if they had Klay Thompson

Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks could not capitalize on the opportunity to win the title this season. They lost the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics in just five games.

Now with Klay Thompson on the roster, the Mavs look like a completely different team. They look like one of the best teams in the West, with a high chance of making it to the NBA Finals again.

NBA analyst Skip Bayless went a step ahead and remarked that if the Mavs had Thompson for the 2023–24 season, they would have won the title.

“If somehow you could have turned back the clock and had Klay Thompson on this past year’s Dallas Mavericks team, that team with Klay beat Boston in the NBA Finals," Bayless said on his show.

"When Luka [Doncic] went cold, and Kyrie [Irving] went even colder, you don’t think Klay could have made some threes?… Klay would have made the difference”.

There is no saying what the Mavs would have looked like with Thompson on the roster. While it is true that they would have looked better, beating a team with elite players on both ends of the floor would still have been tough.