Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić has separated from his fiancée and is now in a custody battle over their two daughters, he revealed to ESPN on Tuesday.
TMZ reported on Tuesday that Dončić’s ex-fiancee, Anamaria Goltez, filed a petition seeking child support and attorney fees from Dončić after their separation. That petition, according to ESPN, was filed in California — though Dončić said he had “no idea” that it was even filed.
“I love my daughters more than anything and I’ve been doing everything I can for them to be with me in the U.S. during the season, but that hasn’t been possible, so I recently made the tough decision to end my engagement,” Dončić said in a statement. “Everything I do is for my daughters’ happiness and I will always fight to be with them and give them the best life I can.”
Dončić and Goltez had been dating since 2016. He first proposed to her in July 2023, and they welcomed their first daughter, Gabriela, later that year. The couple’s second child, Olivia, was then born in December in Slovenia.
Dončić took time away from the Lakers this season to be in Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter. While he was there in December, according to ESPN, Dončić wanted to bring Gabriela back to the United States with him as he was rejoining the Lakers. A disagreement then broke out between Dončić and Goltez, and police were called to the hospital. Officers “did not detect any elements of a criminal offense or misdemeanor” by Dončić during that incident. He left peacefully and flew back to the United States without his daughter later that day.
Dončić has not seen Goltez or either of his daughters since. He’s only seen his daughters for two days since arriving in Los Angeles for Lakers training camp in late September. Goltez has since wiped Dončić from her Instagram, too.
Dončić did file an interim injunction seeking immediate contact with Gabriela and Olivia in Slovenian courts, according to ESPN. Further specifics of that are not yet known.
“I don’t even know how to describe it. It was a lot,” Dončić said of the trip to Slovenia in December, via ESPN. “I was there for the birth of my daughter, so that means everything to me. But it was definitely a roller coaster.”
Dončić, now in his first full season with the Lakers, has averaged a league-high 32.5 points, 8.4 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game. The Lakers hold a 39-25 record entering Tuesday night’s matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
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