Jokic Scored 34 and Lost on the Buzzer, Doncic Is Not Calling His Own, and Macedonia Is Heading to Vienna

France knocked Serbia down with a buzzer-beater - Jokic's 34 points for nothing

91:90 across quarters of 27:22, 27:13, 14:27, 23:28 - and all of it settled in the final second. Serbia led with four seconds left when Marko Guduric scored under the basket and earned an extra free throw. Then the Serbian defence rushed at Sylvain Francisco and left Jaylen Hoard alone under the rim - easy basket, buzzer, over. Nikola Jokic played the way he always plays: 34 points and 13 rebounds, but he missed five of 18 free throws, several of them right at the end. Victor Wembanyama added 18 points, two blocks and a pile of material for social media. France top Group D at 5-1, Serbia are third in Group B of the second round at 3-3. The top three from each group go to the 2027 World Cup - for Serbia this is no longer a warm-up.

Doncic is in Slovenia, but not with the national team

Slovenia's best basketball player is not playing for his country this summer for family reasons, and in the meantime he is hosting the Los Angeles Lakers training camp at home. After a friendly defeat to Montenegro, 78:85, veteran Alen Omic was asked whether Luka Doncic had at least called his teammates. "No, he hasn't spoken. He has his own commitments. We leave him alone, he leaves us alone," Omic told Ekipa. Slovenia are entering a crucial window of qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, and their best player is physically twenty minutes away and effectively absent. Some stories need no commentary - it is enough to place the two sentences side by side.

Red Star announced a 17-man roster and a new coach after a chaotic season

The Belgrade club enters the 2026/27 season with Ibon Navarro on the bench and Milos Teodosic as sporting director - a move that on its own says how bad last year was. Red Star changed two coaches, won only the Serbian Cup, went out in the EuroLeague play-in and lost in the semi-finals of both the ABA League and the Serbian championship. Seven signings arrived this summer, five of them from EuroLeague clubs: David Kramer and Andrej Bjelic from Real Madrid, Chris Jones and Johnathan Motley from Hapoel Tel Aviv, Nick Weiler-Babb on loan from ASVEL. The most important move, though, was not a purchase but a retention - Jared Butler's contract was extended to June 2028. Cody Miller-McIntyre left for Olympiacos and Joel Bolomboy for ASVEL, while Nikola Kalinic ended his career and stayed at the club as an assistant coach.

Macedonia began preparations for Austria: Dimitrijevic and Wright in the squad

The men's senior national team gathered in Skopje ahead of the second pre-qualifying round match for the European Championship. Austria is played on 30 August in Vienna, and the squad is seriously strengthened - Nenad Dimitrijevic is back, and centre Moses Wright arrives under the basket. "We know Austria are a serious team who play run-and-gun basketball. I think they are an awkward opponent, but we have eight or nine days to prepare and to go to Vienna for the win we want," the point guard says. He adds a sentence worth more than the entire analysis: "For me this will be the last chance to play at a European Championship with Macedonia, and I will give everything to make it happen." Dimitrijevic also recalled what Ethan Happ's injury cost us in the previous qualifiers against Estonia.

Sokoli 1933 from Shtip enter the Super League - the competition fell out on paperwork

The licensing commission of the Basketball Federation of Macedonia determined that BC Sokoli 1933 meet the conditions for the vacant place in the men's Super League for the 2026/27 season. Three clubs applied for that place. Feniks 2010, relegated last season, did not meet the conditions. Shkupi did not take part in the competition system at all in 2025/26 after losing the right to compete in the First League over unmet financial obligations. The Shtip club hired former national coach Marjan Srbinoski this summer. If the Federation's management board accepts the proposal, the Super League will consist of MZT Skopje Aerodrom, Madzari, Pelister, TFT, Kozhuv, Tikvesh Golden Eagle, MKK Kumanovo, Rabotnicki, Strumica 2001 and Sokoli 1933. A place in the elite obtained because the others failed to file proper documentation - that is a picture of domestic basketball clearer than any table.