EuroBasket 2025: Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić among NBA stars to watch in hunt for gold

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While the NBA season is still weeks away, hoops fans have a chance to be thoroughly entertained in late summer, as EuroBasket 2025 is about to tip off featuring Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The 42nd edition of the competition begins Wednesday and runs through Sept. 14, with four countries (Cyprus, Finland, Latvia, and Poland) acting as hosts in the group phase. The final phase will be held in Riga, the capital of Latvia.

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EuroBasket features 24 teams spread into four groups of six teams. Four teams in each group move on to the final phase, in which single-game knockout applies.

All in all, the tournament will feature a grand total of 76 games, which can be watched on Courtside 1891, a FIBA-driven streaming platform.

Which NBA stars are playing?

Jokić, Dončić and Antetokounmpo are the three top stars in this event, and they would have been followed by Victor Wembanyama had the Spurs star not prioritized rest after his blood clot.

There are other big-name players in the tournament, including Kristaps Porziņģis, Nikola Vučević, Lauri Markkanen, Bilal Coulibaly, Franz Wagner, Jonas Valančiūnas, Alperen Şengün, and Deni Avdija, to name a few.

If you watch this tournament through NBA eyes, there are plenty of things to track:

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• As some might remember, Dončić helped Slovenia bring home the gold medal in 2017, the year before he was even drafted. His newfound dedication to fitness this offseason will serve as a major plot point for this tournament.

• Will Wagner’s 3-point shooting look different this offseason playing for Germany? The Orlando Magic forward has seen his long-range capabilities decline in recent years, and if he’s ever to reach his ultimate potential, that shot needs to be addressed.

• Valančiūnas is the new back-up center for the Denver Nuggets, and undoubtedly the best one they’ve had in years. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s got the legs and the touch, especially at 33, to be a consistent option for them, and playing for Lithuania at EuroBasket will go some way in showing us.

• Mamukelashvili, who signed a two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors earlier this summer, is suiting up for Georgia, and he’ll have the green light to do whatever he wants. If nothing else, expect the 6-foot-11 dynamo to put on a show.

• With Wembanyama not suiting up for France, Coulibaly will get to run the show to a larger extent than in last year’s Olympics, and that should be enormously interesting for hopeful Wizards fans.

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• As usual, it’ll be Antetokounmpo and not a whole lot else for Greece. Funny how that’s basically the same situation as in Milwaukee these days. Giannis will get to play with his brothers, Thanasis and Kostas, which should be fun for him.

• Markkanen, the Utah Jazz star, is going to have at least one insane game where he’ll go absolutely off for Finland. This seems to be a thing now.

• While Great Britain is not exactly known for basketball, its participation here is of significant importance, as it’s trying to build a sustainable culture of competition while shaping players who can become international somebodies in this game.

The fight for gold

Jokić and Serbia stand as strong candidates to win the whole shebang. That roster is positively loaded, with Bogdan Bogdanović, Nikola Jović, Vasilije Micić, Aleksa Avramović, Filip Petrošev, and a small army of last year’s Olympics roster back on the national team.

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For the uninitiated, Serbia was one Stephen Curry hot streak away from bouncing the United States in last year’s Olympics and playing in the gold medal game. Now it will try to take home the gold at EuroBasket and should stand a decent chance at doing so with a deep roster, the best player in all of basketball and quality at every position.

Outside of Serbia, Germany and France also stand out.

Germany won the world championship in 2023, and its roster is especially primed for international competition. The team doesn’t have the same caliber of top-tier talent as Serbia, but it has depth and quality at most positions, and tends to play with a significant level of confidence against superior opponents.

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France might seem like an odd mention given it’s without Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert. While it simply won’t have the size it did a year ago at the Olympics, the team is loaded at the wing with multiple creators who can get into the teeth of the defense and make plays. Isaïa Cordinier and Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot are two high-end, impactful two-way players who can challenge opponents with length and explosiveness.

While Slovenia is probably on the outside looking in, especially after a poor showing in the exhibition games leading into EuroBasket, the Dončić factor is just too great to ignore. If the team suddenly finds itself in the range of a medal, no one should be surprised.

This news was originally published on this post .