Slovenia faces problems with Doncic's and Dragic's insurance for FIBA window / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: AFP - Scanpix Credit AFP - Scanpix

Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic are ready to help their country in the upcoming FIBA window, but the Slovenian basketball federation (KZS) faces unexpected hurdles.

At the beginning of May, KZS' president Matej Erjavec told that the amount of insurance for Luka Doncic's contract for FIBA World Cup qualifying games is still unknown. However, the situation remains the same to this day.

KZS' Secretary General and legendary Slovenian basketball player Raso Nesterovic didn't hide his frustration while talking to STA.

"We have one of the biggest stars in the basketball world on the team, who are ready to sacrifice their days off in the middle of summer, but we have not yet received information on where, how, and by when we have to register and insure celebrities such as Luka Doncic and Goran Dragic," Nesterovic said.

Siol.net also reports that the insurance cost will be even higher due to the new Doncic contract with the Dallas Mavericks, which is worth 207.1 million US dollars. KZS will reportedly need to cover 100 000 dollars for Doncic's insurance and 15 000 for Dragic's.

However, Nesterovic remains hopeful that the current situation will eventually be solved.

"I can't talk about the numbers because this is a completely different case from all previous ones," Nesterovic said. "And this is the main problem because we don't have any information from FIBA on how to get the number."

"Unofficially, they even told us to try to agree with the club. I believe that we will find a solution, as it is in everyone's interest to see Luka Doncic playing for Slovenia in the World Cup qualifiers and EuroBasket," Nesterovic concluded.

Slovenia will host Croatia on June 30 in Ljubljana before heading to Stockholm to take on Sweden in their final game of the First Round of the FIBA World Qualifiers with the top three teams in the group advancing to the Second Round, which is due to begin in August.

Slovenia sits second in Group C with 2 victories and 2 defeats. With a win against Croatia, they would secure a place in the next stage.

Group C

Pos Team GM W L HW HL PPG PPG A Diff STR L5 1 Finland 4 3 1 2 0 77.0 74.5 2.5 +3 +++- 2 Slovenia 4 2 2 1 1 81.3 83.0 -1.8 -2 --++ 3 Sweden 4 2 2 1 1 82.3 81.3 1 -1 -+-+ 4 Croatia 4 1 3 0 2 78.5 80.3 -1.8 +1 +---

After WC qualifiers, the focus then switches to EuroBasket for the start of September. Slovenia will be based in Cologne for the initial group phase as they face France, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, and the hosts, Germany, from September 1-7, 2022.

The last time Goran Dragic represented the Slovenian jersey was back in 2017 when he navigated his country to the EuroBasket gold.

He scored 35 points in the grand final, which was the most points scored in the ultimate match since Pau Gasol dropped 36 points in the 2003 final.

Following his performance, Dragic was given the MVP award of the tournament, after averaging 22.6 points per game over 9 duels.

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