Luka Doncic's Lakers Teammate Jaden Hardy Says Star 'Loves His Family' Amid Custody Fight Over Daughters

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Lakers guard Jaden Hardy offered a glimpse of Luka Doncic away from the basketball court this week, describing his longtime teammate as a devoted father as the Slovenian star pursues an international legal effort to bring his two young daughters to the United States.

Hardy, who was reunited with Doncic after being acquired by the Lakers this offseason, spoke about the 27-year-old after Los Angeles lost 124-98 to the Golden State Warriors in a preseason game Tuesday night. Doncic sat out the game, resting on the second night of a back-to-back along with Austin Reaves, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton.

"From my experience being with him, I feel like he's goofy," Hardy said. "He's just a regular person, loves his family, loves his daughters. I feel like he's just a good person overall, and somebody that you can look up to and appreciate."

Hague Convention petition

Hardy's comments came days after The Athletic reported that Doncic had filed a petition in Slovenia under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, seeking to bring his daughters, Gabriela and Olivia, to the United States.

Doncic addressed the situation in a statement to The Athletic.

"Nothing is more important to me than my daughters," Doncic said. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure they have both parents present in their lives."

The Hague Convention provides a legal process for international disputes involving children and parental access across borders. Both the United States and Slovenia are parties to the treaty. According to the U.S. State Department, the convention "seeks to organize or secure effective exercise of rights of access to a child."

A Hague petition does not decide permanent custody and does not automatically mean children will be moved to another country. The petition was filed in Slovenia, where local laws prevent it from being made public.

Ongoing custody dispute

Doncic is in a custody dispute with his former fiancee, Anamaria Goltes, who lives in Slovenia with the couple's daughters. The two began dating in 2016 and became engaged in 2023.

Gabriela was born in late 2023, and Olivia was born in December 2025. Doncic left the Lakers for four days last December to be in Slovenia for her birth.

Doncic had hoped to resolve the dispute by Sept. 25, but no agreement was reached, according to The Athletic. He returned to Los Angeles ahead of training camp with no guarantee of when he would next see his daughters during the season.

Goltes filed for child support and legal fees in Los Angeles in March but later withdrew the petition, according to reports.

The custody situation also led Doncic to skip playing for Slovenia's national team this summer so he could spend time with his children.

In a May Instagram post, Doncic said he was pursuing joint custody and had faced major obstacles in seeing his daughters over the previous eight months.

"I love my daughters more than anything, and they will always come first in my life," he wrote at the time.

Before returning to the U.S. for training camp, Doncic shared an emotional message on social media: "G+O, no matter where in the world your Dad is, there is not a day you are not in my heart. Wherever I go, they are always with me. I love you both."

At Lakers media day, he wore bracelets his daughters had made for him.

A familiar face

Hardy and Doncic were teammates in Dallas, where they reached the 2024 NBA Finals together. They were separated in February 2025, when the Mavericks traded Doncic to the Lakers in a blockbuster deal for Anthony Davis that stunned the league.

Hardy later played for the Washington Wizards, averaging 12.6 points and shooting 42% from 3-point range in 23 games late last season. The Lakers acquired him from Washington in a trade involving center Deandre Ayton.

The deal also reunited Hardy and Doncic with guard Quentin Grimes, another former Dallas teammate.

Hardy said Doncic has continued to grow as a leader since arriving in Los Angeles.

"Luka's always been a great leader ever since I've been with him," Hardy said. "I feel like he's just taking another step with that, just trying to lead this group, have everybody on the same page and sticking to having a tight connection with everybody. For Luka, he's always just himself. When he's out there, he's gonna tell you things and he's gonna try to make you a better player."

Hardy credited Doncic with helping him early in his career.

"Whenever I was playing alongside Luka, he used to always instill confidence into the young players, tell them to keep going, and I feel like that helped me a lot when I was a rookie," Hardy said in an interview on the team's media channels. "Playing alongside him then in my second year where we went to the finals... he was big for me during that time and during that stretch. He was someone that I could lean on and talk to."

Season ahead

On the court, Doncic enters the season healthy after recovering from a hamstring injury that sidelined him late last season. He has no physical restrictions heading into training camp, according to reports.

Tuesday's lopsided loss to the Warriors, without Doncic and several other key players, raised questions among some fans about the Lakers' depth. The team will face Golden State again in its regular-season opener.

For Doncic, the season begins with uncertainty off the court as his legal effort continues in Slovenia. No timeline has been given for a resolution.