It’s not exactly the ultimate goal, but Luka Dončić still will have a chance to make a dream come true Saturday morning in the bronze medal game at the Olympics.
To win it, he’ll have to beat his Mavericks’ teammate, Josh Green.
And both Dončić’s Slovenian team and the Australians for whom Green plays will be desperate to claim bronze.
While Slovenia had never been to the Olympics before this year’s magical run that took them into the medal rounds, Australia has a storied Olympic men’s basketball history – but no medals.
Ever.
So that’s the storyline. Two countries. One bronze medal. One goes home with hardware, the other with nothing but the Olympic experience to take pride in.
While the powerful teams from France and the U.S. will battle first for the gold medal late Friday night, the bronze-medal game tips off at 6 a.m., Dallas time, Saturday morning.
Dončić, who will be going into this fourth NBA season and has established himself as one of the superstars of the game, has been one of the best performers of the Olympics – in any sport – averaging a triple-double so far through six games: 24.2 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists per game.
He’s gotten nice support from several Slovenian teammates, particularly Mike Tobey and Zoran Dragic.
Green has not seen a lot of playing time for Australia, but just going through the Olympic experience is a big win for the second-year swingman. The Aussies have a bevy of NBA players on their roster, anchored by San Antonio’s Patty Mills and Utah’s Joe Ingles.
Twitter: @ESefko
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