Luka Doncic’s unequivocal claim about Giannis Antetokounmpo: "He’s the best player in the NBA right now"

Following the Milwaukee Bucks' 124-115 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, Luka Doncic made a very bold claim. Doncic asserted that Bucks superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the NBA.

“It's hard to go against a guy like that. He's the best player in the NBA right now. He's almost impossible to stop. It's really fun to see him play, but it's not that fun to go against him, Doncic said.

"He improves every day. He works really hard, you can see it. He works on everything. He works on his shot, and he's gotten better at a lot of things. He just gets better every day,” Doncic continued.

This is certainly high praise from Doncic, considering he and Antetokounmpo are two of the top contenders for the Most Valuable Player award this season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points, 11 rebounds and four assists on 11-of-19 (57.9%) shooting in the win. "The Greek Freak" has now scored atleast 30 points in the last four games.

Meanwhile, Luka Doncic put up 27 points, five rebounds and 12 assists on 10-of-20 (50.0%) shooting in the loss.

The game marked a rather pedestrian scoring performance for Doncic, who leads the league in scoring at 33.1 points per game. Dallas is now 0-5 in games that Doncic doesn’t reach the 30-point mark, which shows their reliance on him.

The Mavs (9-10) have now lost four straight games and are 11th in the West. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has improved to 14-5, the second-best record in the NBA behind the Boston Celtics (16-4).

Also read: NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) race featuring Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum and more: November 25, 2022 | Latest Power Rankings by Sportskeeda

Giannis Antetokounmpo responds to Luka Doncic’s praise

NBA superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic

As for Giannis Antetokounmpo’s reaction to Luka Doncic’s postgame comments, he was very humble and grateful.

"No matter wins or losses, just being respected by your peers, it's always a good feeling," Antetokounmpo said.

Antetokounmpo then offered some praise of his own towards Doncic.

"I always love playing against the best players in the league. He is an incredible player, incredible talent, arguably one of the most talented players I've ever seen in my lifetime. It's unbelievable what he can do for himself and his team,” Antetokounmpo continued.