Giannis on Luka: 'He's one of the most talented players to ever play this game' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: USA TODAY Sports - Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports - Scanpix

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic are two of the premiere superstars of the NBA. They both met last night where Luka's Dallas Mavericks defeated the Greek Freak's Milwaukee Bucks.

Dallas Mavericks / Schedule

Dallas Mavericks Los Angeles Lakers128-110 Cleveland Cavaliers Dallas Mavericks112-120 Washington Wizards Dallas Mavericks135-103 Milwaukee Bucks Dallas Mavericks112-118 Detroit Pistons Dallas MavericksWed23:00 Dallas Mavericks Portland Trail BlazersSat00:30

Talking about his matchup against a fellow European, Giannis emphasized the talent of Doncic.

"We did a solid job, he's just very very talented, he's a very good player. He's gonna make the right pass, he's gonna make the pass to the roller, the pass to the corner," Antetokounmpo explained. "He's gonna make good decisions. You know, sometimes you can do everything right and still people are gonna have good nights."

"He's one of the most talented players in the league, one of the most talented players probably to ever play this game," Giannis spoke in awe of Doncic. "He's gonna have good nights when we're not going to be able to contain him. We tried to make it tough for him but he played well."

Both Giannis and Luka are European players, both are now perennial NBA MVP candidates who lead their teams to victories and draw millions of fans all around the world to watch them play.

"I think we followed notable first steps - Dirk [Nowitzki], Manu [Ginobili], Tony Parker, Pau Gasol - people that have been in the league, Drazen Petrovic, Tony Kukoc, we can go further back," Giannis talked about the European dominance. "We followed in their footsteps. That's why we're able to be in this position because they showed us the path."

"And [Nikola] Jokic, and [Domantas] Sabonis, and [Rudy] Gobert, and Luka, and myself, and Joel [Embiid] are doing a good job of just representing the rest of the world, showing that it's possible to be in the league and the best player in their teams, and dominate, and be one of the best players in the league."

"We're just going to keep doing it, keep leading by example, keep opening a path for a lot of international players coming over in the near future," the Greek Freak continued. "I feel like once we're out of the league and we retire, there's going to be probably 50%, 40% of international players in the league."

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.