Luka Doncic actually did it. Slovenia, the tiny country of just 2 million people, has never played Olympic basketball. And Luka Doncic just broke their Olympic drought with a 30 point triple-double in the their bracket's finals.
While they're still a long shot to medal in Tokyo (if you're looking for someone to root for other than the Goliath that is Team USA, consider the Boomers of Australia), just making the Olympics is a massive accomplishment. First, it's notoriously difficult for European countries to qualify for the Olympics as despite being clearly the strongest basketball continent (13 of the top 17 ranked countries are European), they have a mere two spots reserved for them in the Olympics. This always leaves a number of very good European teams to duke it out in these final qualifier tournaments and some must inevitably get left on the outside looking in.
Second, what's even more impressive is Slovenia had to defeat Lithuania in their qualifier bracket. Most of this sub probably only knows Lithuania from Lavar Ball's failed overseas plan, but Lithuania has been an international basketball powerhouse for decades; ranked #8 in the world, 3x bronze medalist, and nearly defeated a stacked Team USA in 2012.
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