The Dragon has spoken: Will we see Dragic at the World Cup?

CHICAGO (United States) - After coming out of his international retirement and returning to the Slovenian national team for FIBA EuroBasket 2022, Goran Dragic has left the door open for the story to be continued next year at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

"I didn't say no, and I didn't say yes. I don't know yet. It all depends on how my body will be. I'm in the grey area right now. So we'll see," Dragic told FIBA.basketball. "The national team has Qualifiers right now, so first of all we have to qualify for the World Cup and then we'll see."

Even though Slovenia are well positioned in Group J with a 5-3 record - behind the leading duo of Germany and Finland, both at 7-1, and two games up on the rest of the field - the upcoming window of the European Qualifiers will not be easy.

Slovenia first travel to Israel and then host Germany - without Dragic and many other leaders of the team.

"The other players are going to have to do a really good job to win against Germany and Israel to qualify," Dragic said. "And from there on, we have to be healthy, be hungry again."

The 36-year-old initially retired from the national team after leading Slovenia to a historic triumph at FIBA EuroBasket 2017, picking up the MVP accolade along the way. 

"To win something for your country, it means everything to me. Playing in front of our fans was definitely one of the highlights of my career. I'm just happy that we won it; it was our first medal in our basketball history. That is kind of huge," he recalled.

"IT WAS OUR FIRST MEDAL IN BASKETBALL HISTORY. THAT IS KIND OF HUGE."

What persuaded the Dragon to come out of retirement?

"Medal, definitely a medal," Dragic replied. "I went back to help Luka (Doncic) and those guys. It didn't come to fruition but it's all good. You have to understand as an athlete sometimes you have to accept the failure and learn from it. Hopefully it will be better next year if we go to the World Cup."

 
Slovenia ended up being eliminated in the EuroBasket 2022 Quarter-Finals by Poland - a result Dragic called a "disaster".

"It hurts that we lost because I feel we had a team for a medal. But that's the beauty of the tournament. You have to be ready and play well each game. If you lose one game you go back home. That's what happened to us," Dragic said.

The veteran said Slovenia have reached a point where the team can go into every event thinking about a deep run - especially since they have Doncic.

"Now that we have Luka, the expectations are a little bit higher, and they should be. We have already broken the ice and now we should be playing for the best spots every year," he said.

For Slovenia to achieve more major successes though Dragic said Doncic should take another step in his leadership.

"I feel like he needs to be a leader. He's already a leader on the court but he needs to be a leader in the locker room and start talking a little bit more," Dragic said.

Maybe Dragic will be there to help Doncic with that at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

FIBA