you know learning different languages he speaks four languages so just wanted to make sure on um not just because it was National TV but because that's my brother man I call him myano or brate or you know just a nickname just to remind him that that's uh you know it's a genuine love there man I consider him part of my family magic I mean y got see every night he can do pretty much anything with the basketball so I'm just glad he's on our team making those big shots every night I mean the guy never
sees to amaz me he looks like he never rushes plays at his own pace but defit is 45 he made it look like but anyone who's ever play in this leag know how how ridiculously good that is there's only so many players in the history of this game who are capable of such things so it's an honor to be on on his side always fun competing against LCA when you get opportunity to play with the greats um or play against the greats you know you always want to see how you stack up what you can
do to stop them so it's always far when you're as talented as Luca donic is on the basketball court earning respect from your peers comes naturally it's widely recognized how skilled Luca is but what sets him apart isn't just his abilities in the NBA every player has top tier skills but not everyone can make the game look as effortless as Luca does coupled with his competitiveness onc Court confidence and remarkable personality Luca stands out as one of the most respected NBA players let's hear what some of his fellow players have to say about him alen
Iverson is widely regarded as one of the most Transcendent talents in NBA history known for his ball dominant style AI mastered creating his own shot whether with his killer crossover or by finishing at The Rim much like Luca donic Iverson was a clutch playoff performer who could Elevate his team when it mattered most in his 2001 MVP season he carried a flawed Philadelphia team to the NBA finals cementing his legacy as a generational Talent today Iverson remains in awe of Luca even naming him as the one player he'd most like to play with he believes
Luca's size and skill set would make them an unguardable backcourt Duo um one of the days where I would I would want it to be Luca because I you know he he's a big um point guard yeah I can still play the two he can guard the twoos I guard the one you know what I mean and I think it'll just be deadly when it comes to Luca donic Arenas has offered one of his most contentious opinions yet he argues that Luca shouldn't be compared to Michael Jordan or even James Harden according to Arenas Luca's
lack of defensive prowess disqualifies him from being mentioned alongside Jordan who was dominant on both ends of the floor Arenas also questions Lucas offensive game claiming it doesn't measure up to Harden's ball dominant scoring style ultimately arenus believes Luca still has a long way to go before entering the conversation for all-time greatness showing just how divided opinions on Luca donic can be among former NBA stars and then you have luk here who's compared to Michael Jordan and he's James Harden he's literally James Harden right a dude who scored a lot of points don't play no
defense right but we we see what they did to James Harden who didn't play defense they let the world know he didn't play no defense they let the world know he was a one-sided player this all he do he's just a stater Lucas is considered the next Michael Jordan the Michael Jordan who played defense and offense and we have one-sided where we like oh one-sided well we know what that looks like that's James Harden can he say he's better than James Harden at scoring can't even do that they can't even you can't even argue that
he's a better scorer than James Harden in that same category but he's cons considered the next Michael Jordan Michael Jordan's reputation as the greatest player of all time speaks for itself early in Luca Don's career MJ saw something special and signed him to Jordan brand later releasing Luca's signature sneakers at the time of the sponsorship announcement Jordan praised Luca's incredible skill level for such a young player he highlighted what sets Luca apart despite being slower and less athletic than many players in the league Luca's Advanced skill set and Elite basketball IQ allow him to dominate
both individual Defenders and complex defensive schemes as Luca's career has unfolded MJ's words have proven to be spot-on Luca's skill and ability to read the game have only improved making him one of the League's top players and one of the hardest to guard it's clear Michael Jordan and Jordan brand made a brilliant investment in a superstar whose influence continues to grow here's what MJ had to say about Luca Luca is a phenomenal player and at such a young age he's demonstrating skill it takes many guys years to develop it will incredible to watch him continue
to advance in the league Luca and Nicolas share a strong Balan connection which has blossomed into a deep friendship off the court they're always joking around but when it's game time they compete fiercely their relationship is truly special characterized by two extremely passionate basketball players who Express their love for the game in different ways Nicola and Luca are poised to be the faces of the league for years to come after the Denver Nuggets defeated Lucas's Mavericks Nicola was asked what he enjoys most about Lucas game here's what Nicola replied when we beat him and I
can make fun of him he followed it up with a bit more serious comment I mean he's my good friend and it's always nice to to to play against him that's probably the most you are going to get out of the joker as he probably dislikes being around the media even more than he enjoys playing basketball when we talk about players similar to Luca James Harden might not be the first name that comes to mind but they actually share quite a lot in common both of them don't rely much on their physical abilities they both
have a killer stepback move and they can score from anywhere on the court because they're both so skilled earning respect from others is natural Harden has admired Luca since he was just 19 saying unbelievable you know I'm sure he's 19 starting as a you know West Allstar his first time and you know many more to come for him so hopefully he gets better his ankle gets better and uh we'll be seeing a lot lot of him for a long time Jimmy Butler is one of the few players in the league who still brings that old
school energy to the court Luca shares that same ferociousness in his game the mutual respect between them is evident as they have publicly acknowledged it when Jimmy is in a good mood he often delivers some of the most interesting quotes in the NBA don't skip over my sanan guy for for y'all sylvanian guy I like ours better on a more serious note Jimmy continued following the first comment by saying he's tough um and and and super fun to watch he does everything so well he gets everybody involved he can shoot it get to the rim
sneaky athletic too if I had to watch somebody play in pay to watch he goes he goes in that category Dame Lillard is known as one of the most genuine players in the NBA his passion and composure under pressure on the court extend to his offc court demeanor when discussing the dynamic Duos like Luca and Kyrie or Dame and Giannis Lillard elaborated on the energy and Vibes that players of their caliber bring when they play together or face off against each other obviously when we all see each other we know what kind of night is
going to be ultimately you want your team to come out on top um but I think we've all um especially myself Kyrie jannis Luca is a little bit younger than us but um we've done it for a long time now so it's like we understand that it's going to be different for everybody you know what I'm saying it's not so much about the stats is who can who can come up big in the moments that count and win the game he continued praising both Luca and Kyrie's scoring abilities those guys are great scorers two of
the best scorers in the history of the game they see the ball go in a couple times at that point there's really nothing you can do about it becoming your favorite player's favorite player must be an amazing Fe while not everyone may know about it Luca certainly does as a kid Luca was a huge fan of LeBron James now two decades later LeBron James is a huge fan of Luca donic you might wonder why cuz I love everything about his game love everything about him the way he plays the game remind me of the way
I play the game where just triple threats we rebound we pass which is the number one thing on our mind trying to keep our teammates engaged and keep our teammates feeling good out on the floor keeping our teammates in real them and we'll put 40 on you too if you disrespect us despite leaving a game against the Miami Heat early due to an injury Luca donic still managed to get his respect from that night's opposing big man Bam adabo Bam kept it brief and simple he's special you know he doesn't let anybody speed him up
and uh he plays at his own pace he he he's one of those guys that's really unique he's not really fast you know he he he just does really a lot of special things and he's a big part of our Dallas's top in the west right now Kyrie Irving is undoubtedly the biggest superstar Luca has teamed up with in his NBA career when two players of their caliber join forces it can either elevate a team to Championship contention or disrupt chemistry however Luca and Kyrie seem to complement each other well on the court Kyrie has
publicly expressed their Mutual understanding stating you know we we kind of know uh each other's spaces on the floor or spots on the floor we have the utmost respect for one another but also we know when to give each other confidence and it's not just me and Luca it's the whole ire team but a lot of of visibility is going to be on us and our leadership so we relishing that responsibility and he's been doing it here for the last 6 years so me coming in and just being a valuable piece uh for the team
and alongside him to alleviate some pressure uh I feel like I'm I'm doing a great job but at the end of the day I still feel like we can get better our chemistry will continue to develop uh the more pressure situations we're in and tougher teams we play but uh we've had our fair share of test and and I think we can evaluate that we've done well but we can still do better Luca's biggest is likely Devon Booker while Luca often comes out on top against Booker and the Suns there are instances where Booker has
emerged Victorious their matchups are always intense and have produced memorable moments and memes however off the court they have mutual respect for each other which is evident when asked about what makes Luca difficult to guard Booker explained I mean he does everything you know there's no weakness offensively you know if he's scoring in bunches you know he's also getting his teammates involved at the same time they've created a great system where you know when you try to put two on the ball and take away his scoring ability he gets other guys involved and get gets
some open shots and easy look so you know it's that balance of you know trying to you know limit it all um and it's a tough job to do after Luca had a monster 32 points and 15 assists performance against the Bucks in the postgame press conference The Greek Freak was asked how did the Bucks approach Luca on defense and why was he so difficult to stop down the stretch I think we did we did a solid job to him he's just very very talented he a very good player you know he's going to make
the right pass uh he's going to make you know the pass to the roller the pass the skape pass to the corner uh he's going to make good decisions and um you know sometimes he can do everything right and still people going have good nights he's one of the most talented players in the league one of the most players probably to ever play this game you know so there going to be nice that he's going to have good nights um not going to be able to you know you know cont contain him as much as
as much as possible but we try to make a St for him uh but he played he played well after Luca had a 50-point game against Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns KD was asked what made Luca so impossible to stop during that game I mean he does this every game I mean this is he controls the whole game you know passes rebounds scores we kind of expect this from him at this point right there is not much you can expect to get from a star player who just lost a tough game and had a
50-point bomb dropped on him but the respect here is evident over the years Jason Tatum has evolved into one one of the NBA's top players and a candidate for MVP playing the same position as Luca their matchups are always exciting to watch after Luca had a game below his usual standards Jason Tatum explained the Celtics defensive strategy against donic and the Mavericks just try to make it tough more you know obviously hell of a player you know can get any shot he wants just got to throw fresh bodies at him can't give him the same
look the whole game and you know contest and then live with the result Jamal Murray has been Nicola jokic's trusted partner in driving the nuggets offense over time he has emerged as one of the top guards in the NBA and a crucial factor in Denver's achievements following a victory over the Dallas Mavericks Jamal was questioned about the Nuggets defensive strategy against Luca and the Mavs given that donic was the only Mavericks player to have a strong performance that game it contributed to the Nuggets relatively straightforward win I don't think anybody else on their team had
over 10 points but I mean Luca is a hell of a player man I mean to see why he balls in his hand every possession uh you know he makes plays he shoots the ball efficiently he can hit step backs he can draw fouls he can um get to the rim you know what I'm saying so yeah he's he's an amazing player I don't know I don't know what else I got you among NBA players Steph Curry is considered one of the biggest fans of Luca over the years Luca and Steph have had numerous matchups
each game a thrilling spectacle both are Fierce competitors always striving to win especially against players of their caliber Steph holds genuine respect for Luca's game and admires how he has continued to improve season after season I mean his his size his ball handling skills keep you on the edge of the whole game just cuz that plus you know being a three level scorer you have to kind of worry about everything you don't want to get a step back threes going so you got to press up on him but he's Shifty and got a great handle
so he can use his leverage to get by you and then obviously his court Visions unreal so you know he's kind of offensive you know package of being just a playmaker and a score and when he's knocking down shots like he did tonight it's tough he kind of want take something away from him but he kept making play after play even made a couple defensive plays on the other side a couple you know Steals and a strip on me but um you know he's he's been playing at a extremely high level and uh he's been
getting better every year when it comes to Joel embiid he either respects you or doesn't at all there is no in between with Luca's talent and competitiveness you could imagine which group donic is in uh he's been great he's been dominating obviously but he's a real player and you know he's asserting himself into one of the best players in the league um I'm a big fan you know when you got such a guy like that you know gu that can you know score the ball everywhere you know be a point guard and distribute uh the
ball and make things happen uh I think he's been he's been doing great in a game against the Indiana Pacers Luca made one of the craziest passes ever seen on a basketball court having him trapped in the corner the Pacers thought they had done a great job for The Possession but Luka had a different plan let's let Pacers guard Tyrese Halbert and explain the whole story he D that pass against us on the Baseline when he was trapped and he jumped and he like whipped it and it like the ball it like bent I wasn't
playing so I was sitting there like this it's like good trap good trap he threw he turned around looked at me that was special they show that I said yo you are special that was crazy the feeling that Tyrese has when talking about this situation makes you think how much Luca can have other star NBA players in disbelief Chris Paul is widely regarded Ed as having one of the greatest basketball Minds in history as one of the best guards ever he relies heavily on his basketball IQ and deep understanding of the game rather than his
physical prowess a true student of the game Paul respects Luca's game because of its fundamental soundness despite Luca's ability to dominate the court in various aspects just uh confidence and the pace that he plays with it's funny a lot of people forget he's been a pro you know overseas the game you know they usually say that the game slows down for you but it's all already slow for him you know what I mean he knows the reads he knows everything so even though they only faced off twice dwen Wade quickly recognized Luca Don's skills when
asked about the young player Wade expressed his admiration saying he's a big fan of Luca hell of a player hell of a young player but it seemed like he's been here before already I think Dallas Mavericks fans and NBA sports fans around the world should be excited about you know what he can do for the next 20 years in this game as a fan of the game I love watching him play he does things on the court um that you just you know it Wows you um so it's great you guys got a good one
keep them I'm sure Mark Cuban will Shaquille O'Neal has changed his mind about Luca quite a bit in the past but lately he's been a big fan of the Maverick Superstar on Inside the NBA Shaq talked about how great Luca is especially at creating opportunities for his team he looked closely at how Luca played against the Lakers and ended by saying how impressed he was with Luca's skills this kid has to do everything for his team to be successful right here guys passor but he just said I'm a score and great player MVP candidate but
it's a lot of pressure on him cuz if he don't play well if he don't do that Maverick's going nowhere Luca is truly something special he's got everything size strength shooting passing and a fierce competitive Drive even though he plays at such a high level every night his fellow NBA players really appreciate and admire his talent it's a big deal to earn respect from so many big names in the league and it shows just how great Luca is at only 25 years old he has a real chance to become one of the greatest players ever
let's hope for the best for Luca donic in his NBA career
