There will be some top-flight NBA talent playing in EuroBasket this September. Giannis Antetokounmpo — and all three of his brothers — will suit up for Greece. Nikola Jokic will play for Serbia. Rudy Gobert will play for France. Domantas Sabonis will lace them up for Lithuania.
Now add Goran Dragic to a Slovenian team that already had Luka Doncic signed up.
I’M BACK ….. 🇸🇮🇸🇮🇸🇮 #TheDragon 🐲🔥 @kzs_si @EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/ebV1VnnqM6
— Goran Dragić (@Goran_Dragic) August 5, 2022
Dragic scored 35 points in the championship game to lead Slovenia to the 2017 EuroBasket championship. He is a legend in his home nation and someone who can still contribute to winning basketball. There was some concern about getting the proper insurance for the two NBA players on the team, but that has been worked out.
Slovenia finished fourth in the 2020 Olympics, getting out of group play and beating Germany in the first medal round, but then losing in the semifinals to France. Australia beat Slovenia in the bronze medal game. They enter EuroBasket as a team with a legitimate chance to medal.
In EuroBasket 2022, Slovenia is in Group B with old friends Germany and France, as well as Hungary, Lithuania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. That is a stacked group, but the top four will advance to the 16-team medal round (finishing higher in the group should make the path through the single-elimination rounds easier).
Dragic will play for the Bulls as a backup point guard this season and could be a big boost to Chicago’s bench.
