Luka Doncic & Nikola Jokic Stir Lakers Rumors With Interaction at Game

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers are eager to see what Luka Doncic looks like following his body transformation this season, but they could actually watch him play now in EuroBasket. Doncic, along with several other notable European players, is playing in the EuroBasket 2025 tournament, which features many of the best European teams.

While Doncic is one of the biggest draws of the tournament, he also has to share the spotlight with Nikola Jokic. The Denver Nuggets superstar is arguably the best player in the NBA.

Doncic’s Slovenian team and Jokic’s Serbian team faced off on Thursday, and it wasn’t very close. Serbia 106-72, but despite the blowout, Doncic played well, scoring 17 points.

Jokic didn’t have to do much with his team winning with ease, but after the game, cameras caught a fun interaction. Doncic went up to Jokic, who was holding his daughter. He high-fived the former MVP and his daughter. The interaction ended with Jokic kissing Doncic on the cheek.

It’s well-known that Jokic and Doncic are close friends, but nonetheless, fans started to speculate again that the two are hoping to be teammates.

Fans React to Jokic-Doncic Interaction

Jokic and Doncic are friends in real life, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they had a friendly interaction after their EuroBasket matchup. However, Lakers fans have been manifesting a Doncic-Jokic pairing in Los Angeles, and this only added fuel to the fire.

“Yea Jokic is a Laker he is already kissing Luka,” one fan wrote on X.

“Future Lakers teammates,” another fan wrote.

“Welcome to the Lakers,” a fan commented.

Jokic can theoretically be a free agent in 2027, and there’s no doubt the Lakers would try to sign him. He’s one of the best players in the world and would be an exciting fit with Doncic. That said, Jokic in Los Angeles seems like an odd fit. Denver makes more sense for his personality, but perhaps the idea of playing with Doncic would be too enticing to pass up.

Doncic Named Third-Best Player at EuroBasket

There are a lot of great players coming out of Europe these days. Arguably, the three best players in the world hail from Europe.

That’s evidenced by the fact that ESPN ranked Doncic as the third-best player in EuroBasket behind Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

“Arguably the biggest appeal of this tournament for NBA fans is the chance to see Dončić in meaningful action for the first time since his much-discussed summer body transformation,” Neil Paine wrote. “Of course, the statistical forecasts can’t factor in those physique changes, but they do know that Dončić maintained a relatively steady version of his impact after his shocking midseason trade to the Lakers, even if he wasn’t as dominant in the first-round playoff defeat as he had been in leading Dallas to the 2024 NBA Finals.

“After evading a significant injury during a recent exhibition game, EuroBasket should be Dončić’s usual showcase. He has been a fixture on this stage since playing for the gold medal-winning Slovenian team in 2017 at age 17, and he was one of the best players in the 2022 tournament — an early sign that he was about to take his game to an even higher level. Slovenia follows Serbia, Germany and France on the odds board, but another new-and-improved version of Dončić could be the difference-maker.”