Spanoulis on Doncic: 'I'm very happy that I inspired a phenomenal player like him' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: USA TODAY Sports, imago images/ANE Edition-Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports, imago images/ANE Edition-Scanpix

The legendary Greek basketball player Vassilis Spanoulis sat down with Harris Stavrou of SPORT24 to talk about coaching, his mentors, and European superstars in the NBA.

Vassilis Spanoulis

Position:SG, PGAge:39Height:193 cmWeight:96 kgBirth place:Larissa, GreeceProfileNewsStatistics

Spanoulis, the all-time top scorer in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, ended his playing career with Olympiacos Piraeus last summer after having reached the heights of European basketball as a three-time EuroLeague champion and the only three-time Final Four MVP this century.

Recently, the 39-year-old has debuted as the head coach in the Adidas Next Generation Tournament (Belgrade), where he stood at the helm of Spanoulis's Next Generation Team.

"I know I can be a very good coach. I will never do anything if I know I will not be the best at it or even one of the top," Spanoulis told SPORT24.

Asked about his mentors, "Kill Bill" stressed the importance of Dusan Ivkovic and Zeljko Obradovic during his playing days.

"Obradovic is a genius, he never gets stuck, he is two steps in front of you. He is flexible no matter what you do. From Ivkovic, I would keep his discipline and how he set up his teams. He provided the freedom to the players, he was inconceivable".

Spanoulis also touched on the topic of nowadays' European superstars – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.

He remembered the advice once he gave to the "Greek Freek".

"I told him how high his ceiling is, how many things he can achieve. He realized we never stop because we achieved something in our life. We keep pushing, more and more, that will be our legacy," Spanoulis revealed.

Regarding Doncic, who idolized Spanoulis growing up, the three-time EuroLeague champion was satisfied that he inspired such talent to play the game of basketball.

"It's an honor hearing one of the greatest players in the world saying that he played basketball because of me. My kids are watching him, I am very happy that I inspired a phenomenal player like him," Vassilis Spanoulis finished.

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.