An interaction towards the end of Slovenia vs. France in the EuroBasket 2025 involving Luka Dončić stunned the international basketball community. After an action-packed NBA season, Dončić decided to represent his country, once again, at the EuroBasket 2025.
Although Slovenia certainly has some talented players, they have been struggling to secure wins and recently lost a group stage game to France. While that might not be noteworthy, a quick series of events following an exchange between Team France’s Sylvain Francisco and Dončić has basketball fans reacting wildly.
Why Did Sylvain Francisco Disrespect Luka Dončić and Team Slovenia?
There are several unspoken or unofficial rules in the world of basketball. Players who exhibit high sportsmanship engage in certain behaviors to show respect towards their opponents.
Running down the shot clock towards the end of a blowout is a long-standing tradition associated with almost all official basketball games worldwide. When the victor has a commanding lead, they tend to dribble out the basketball and ignore scoring on the game’s final possession.
France found themselves in this situation as they held a nine-point lead on Slovenia with less than 20 seconds left in the game. Francisco had the ball in his hands and was spotted hugging Dončić. However, he drove to the rim and made an uncontested layup just seconds later.
The reaction from the Slovenian players around him was quite menacing, and several huddles soon formed. This appeared to have been done in “bad taste,” and fans across the world took to social media to share their thoughts.
“Absolutely disgraceful behavior by the French player Sylvain Francisco. France already won, he hugs Luka, Slovenia started to shake hands, and then he proceeds to lay it up. I’ve not seen anything like it,” one post read.
Absolutely disgraceful behavior by the French player Sylvain Francisco. France already won, he hugs Luka, Slovenia started to shake hands, and then he proceeds to lay it up. I’ve not seen anything like it. pic.twitter.com/Ha1D1fBbTW
— SLO HOOPS FAN 🇸🇮 (@SloHoopsFan) August 30, 2025
Fans could not help but react to the French player’s move: “This is crazy disrespectful.”
This is crazy disrespectful by France 😳
(h/t @RajChipalu)pic.twitter.com/VQvBmOYqwW
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) August 30, 2025
Others attempted to make sense of the situation by revealing that the point differential rules in EuroBasket 2025 incentivized France to continue scoring until the very end, “i get the point differential matters in this tournament, but it still rubs me the wrong way.”
i get the point differential matters in this tournament, but it still rubs me the wrong way
— phen 🇵🇸 (@phen_omenon) August 30, 2025
This tradition of dribbling out the shot clock has been known to get messy several times in league history. After all, the players who win might just want to prioritize “punching in” their victory over showing the expected level of sportsmanship and good conduct.
In any case, Francisco’s little moment in the limelight does not change the fact that Slovenia has a serious issue that needs to be addressed. They have lost to Poland and France, with neither game going down to the wire. If things continue in this manner, Dončić and Team Slovenia might not be able to qualify for the knockout stages of EuroBasket 2025.
