Kevin Durant: Giannis Antetokounmpo 'Greek Freak' May Become Best NBA Player Ever

Before the NBA season starts, players, coaches and general managers make predictions on which players will win certain awards. Golden State Warriors MVP Kevin Durant took it a step further and suggested that Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo could emerge as the "best player" ever.

During a Q-and-A session posted on Friday to his Youtube channel, he gave Antetokounmpo, nicknamed, "the Greek Freak" the highest praise.

"I like long, athletic guys," Durant said. "That's just who I am. The Greek Freak I think is a force, and I've never seen anything like him. And his ceiling is probably, he could end up being the best player to ever play if he really wanted to. That's pretty scary to think about. But he's by far my favorite player to watch."

Antetokounmpo, 22, is coming off a stellar season. He averaged a career-high 22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.6 steals, and is the fifth player in league history to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks last season.

This wasn’t the first time Durant celebrated the 22-year-old Bucks forward. After Antetokounmpo won most improved player at the 2017 NBA awards ceremony in June, Durant took to his Youtube and commended him.

"Congrats on MIP, this dude is a specimen that we've never seen before and it's guaranteed that he will be an MVP one day," Durant wrote. "In fact, I called out this years MVP years ago so you gotta respect my knowledge for the game lol."

Durant spoke to Bill Simmons on "The Bill Simmons" podcast in February about the future of the NBA and, once again, he brought up Antetokounmpo’s potential.

"Look at Giannis. Giannis Antetokounmpo, this guy is scary," Durant said. "He's more athletic than I am. He's longer than me. He's faster. He's going to be stronger than I am."

Durant, who led his Warriors to the NBA championship last season, averaging 25.8 points per game, had garnered admiration from Antetokounmpo. He noted the importance of influencing the NBA’s younger players.

"A lot of people told me he looked up to me, and I didn't know that, but a lot of people said that," he added. "We played in Milwaukee one time and I was working out before the game and I just saw him staring at me, just watching me the whole time. I was like it feels good that I can influence a young guy like that."

"I saw how hard he played his rookie year and I was like this guy plays extremely hard. A lot of people told me he looked up to me, and I didn’t know that, but a lot of people said that. We played in Milwaukee one time and I was working out before the game and I just saw him staring at me, just watching me the whole time. I was like it feels good that I can influence a young guy like that."