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NBA ALL-STAR 2018

February 17, 2018

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Los Angeles, California

Q. Who has the best hops in the NBA?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Me, of course.

Q. Who is going to win the dunk contest?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: I got to go with -- what's his name? Dennis Smith? He's got a pretty good chance to win it.

Q. Who is the All-Star that is most likely to be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: To not be or to be?

Q. To be.
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Joel Embiid, of course.

Q. What makes this All-Star Game special?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: The feeling is great. I'm just here to have fun. It's another year of hard work that paid off. Yeah, that's helped me and my family to enjoy this moment in L.A.

Q. Can you mention that you are not, in fact, a human being and you are the Greek God of Dunking?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Can you repeat that again?

Q. Can you finally admit to the rumor that you're not a human being, in fact, you're the Greek God of Dunking?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: I'm a human being. But I'm really good at dunking too.

Q. Do you think Tim Hardaway has recovered?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Tim Hardaway is doing great, he's doing great.

Q. Can you do a shout out to China?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Shout out to my fans in China. Thank you guys for the support, and hopefully I can see you guys this summer again.

Q. Longevity is crucial to have a long career. What do you need to do to take care of your body? Do you have any nutritional tips?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: So far I don't have any nutritional tips, but, yeah, of course you've got to take care of your body. We play so many games, and that's really important. Because if your body breaks down, you cannot be who you want to be.

For me, I think I'm doing a really good job, taking care of my body since I've been in the league. I have a great team. The Bucks trainers behind me that help me.

Q. Your thoughts on Kristaps Porzingis going down with an injury.
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Of course, I feel bad. The NBA is like a brotherhood, and it's one of the best players in the NBA. He's one of my friends. He visited me two years ago, actually a year and a half, in Greece.

But, you know, plays like that are going to happen. But he's going to do whatever it takes to come back strong and be better because he's Porzingis at the end of the day.

Q. (Indiscernible)?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: For all the Greek fans that are going to say awake, I want to tell them, they're going to enjoy the game. I hope they're doing well. Thank them for their support, and you guys enjoy the All-Star break.

Q. Are you a natural leader?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: I was a leader since I was young, maybe not on the court, but off the court, with my family. But those things have changed lately in these years is I'm more talkative. I'm more vocal. I'm not scared to say my opinion to my teammates. I'm just trying to make them feel confident and play hard.

Q. How was your Valentine's Day?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: My Valentine's Day was great.

Q. Do you have pressure on you?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: Of course I have pressure. I've got to go out there and have fun. Hopefully I can get the MVP. But I'm really happy that [his brother] Thanasis was able to get the MVP. Saw some highlights of the dunks. Yeah, I have pressure, but I've still got to go out there and have fun and play hard.

Q. Are you going for it tomorrow?
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: I'm going to go have fun.

Q. So talking about MVP, you as an international player, it's like, wow. We have international players in the MVP conversation.
GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO: It's great. One of the things that impressed me this year is that after 10, 15 games, me and Porzingis were top one and two in scoring in the NBA. I don't think that's ever happened before.

So you can see that international players are getting a lot better. Embiid right there, me, Porzingis, hopefully more guys will come from international and join the league and make this league a lot better, because they can play.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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