Lakers' Doncic skips Slovenian national team to focus on daughters amid custody battle

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic announced he will skip playing for the Slovenian national team this summer to focus on his daughters amid a custody battle with his former fiancée Anamaria Goltes.

Doncic made the announcement in an Instagram post early Tuesday. "I love my daughters more than anything, and they will always come first in my life," he wrote in his Instagram Stories. "As I continue working toward joint custody of my daughters, I have been forced to make a difficult decision between traveling and playing for the Slovenian national team and being with my daughters this summer. Unfortunately, it has been made extremely difficult for me to see them over the past eight months."

"I have given everything to representing Slovenia and I am disappointed that I will not be able to play for my country this summer," Doncic added. "But right now, my daughters and my responsibilities as a father are my priority."

Doncic ended his engagement with Goltes earlier this year because he could not have his daughters with him for the U.S. season. The couple became engaged in July 2023. Their daughters were born in November 2023 and December 2025. Doncic left the Lakers to travel to Slovenia for the birth of his younger daughter.

Goltes filed a petition for child support and attorneys' fees in California, TMZ Sports reported previously.

"I love my daughters more than anything, and I’ve been doing everything I can for them to be with me in the U.S. during the season, but that hasn’t been possible, so I recently made the tough decision to end my engagement," Doncic told ESPN in March. "Everything I do is for my daughters’ happiness, and I will always fight to be with them and give them the best life I can."