FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament Semi-Final preview: Luka Doncic, Slovenia face Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece

"He was my idol," Doncic said at NBA All-Star media day in 2022. "That's why I wore number seven, and when I couldn't wear seven because it was taken, that's why I have 77.

I just wanna thank him for everything that he brought to basketball, not just to me. To a lot of players, he just showed how to play basketball, how to act on the court and what is leadership."

Speaking to Olympics.com following Greece's team practice on Friday, Spanoulis was full of praise for the Dallas Maverick:

"Luka is a great character, a great person. You can't be a big player if you're not a great person.

"He's a great idol and I respect him a lot. [But] for 40 minutes we're opponents."

When asked on how he plans to stop Doncic, Spanoulis admitted that it will be challenging.

"It's not easy to stop Luka. Players like Luka and Giannis have a lot of ways to score, so we're going to do our best to eliminate his decision making.

"But for me, it's not tennis. It's not Luka vs Giannis. It's a 5 against 5."

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