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Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic said he will forego playing with the Slovenian national team to focus on his daughters as he has been locked in a custody battle with his ex-fiancée Anamaria Goltes.
Doncic said in an Instagram post early Tuesday that he will use the summer to spend time with them.
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Lakers guard Luka Doncic holds the ball during a timeout in the first half of Game 6 of the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Houston Rockets in Houston on May 1, 2026. (Ashley Landis/AP)
“I love my daughters more than anything and they will always come first in my life,” read a message posted on his Instagram Stories. “As I continue to work towards 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 extremely difficult for me to see them over the past eight months.
“I have given everything to represent Slovenia and I am disappointed that I will not be able to play for my country this summer. But right now my daughters and my responsibilities as a father are my priority.”
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Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of Game 2 of the second round of the NBA playoffs on May 7, 2026, in Oklahoma City. (Nate Billings/AP)
Doncic said earlier this year that he ended his engagement to Goltes because he was unable to bring his daughters with him for the season in the U.S.
They became engaged in July 2023 and their daughters were born in November 2023 and December 2025, when Doncic left the Lakers to travel to Slovenia when his younger daughter was born.
Goltes filed a petition for child support and attorney fees in California, TMZ Sports previously reported.
“I love my daughters more than anything and I’ve done everything I can for them to be with me in the US during the season, but it hasn’t been possible, so I recently made the difficult decision to end my engagement,” he told ESPN in March.
Luka Doncic of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the third quarter against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California on April 11, 2025. (Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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“Everything I do is for the happiness of my daughters and I will always fight to be with them and give them the best life I can.”
