The Los Angeles Lakers saw Luka Dončić represent them during the EuroBasket tournament earlier this summer. Dončić’s home country, Slovenia, did not win the tournament, but he definitely made his impact known.
So much so that one of his Lakers teammates wants to join Dončić on the Slovenian National Basketball Team. It’s not just about playing with the superstar, but also because he talks about how Team USA assembles its team.
Which Lakers Player Wants to Join Team Slovenia Alongside Luka Dončić?
Lakers center Jaxon Hayes revealed that he wants to play alongside Dončić for Slovenia in the future. He admitted that he wants to because it’s possible, and Team USA won’t give him the chance to play for them.
“We have the same agent and my parents and his parents are all kind of working on it right now,” Hayes told reporters, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “But they came to me with the idea. Each national team gets one neutralized player… they brought that to my attention.”
He added, “Team USA doesn’t do open tryouts, and I feel like there’s guys they invite to USA that shouldn’t be there. If I wanted to play on that stage, Imma do whatever it takes to play on that stage.”
Jaxson Hayes says he is pursuing a Slovenian passport to be able to play on the national team with Luka Doncic. Beyond the chance to play with Doncic, Hayes says his interest has been sparked by the fact that USA Basketball does not hold open tryouts — which he doesn’t agree with pic.twitter.com/R9g5ViVFjY
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 19, 2025
While some may consider Hayes’ desire to play for Slovenia random, it goes without saying that his specific interest in playing there on a National stage has a lot to do with playing alongside his Lakers superstar teammate.
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Hayes has been teammates with Dončić since February. Since he made his debut with the Lakers on February 10, Hayes averaged 8.1 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 75.6% from the field, per NBA.com. While it’s not like his numbers skyrocketed following the trade of Dončić, it was clear how much better the superstar made Hayes.
Now, Dončić has a training camp and preseason under his belt, which means more time to develop his chemistry with Hayes. It’s clear that Hayes sees a connection with the Lakers’ franchise player, so not only is it possible that he may put up some career highs this season across the board, but he may keep that up should the two play on Slovenia’s National team together in the future.
