Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior pays tribute to NBA ‘legend’ Luka Doncic after historic 73-point haul for Dallas Mavericks against Atlanta Hawks

The Slovenian fired the Dallas Mavericks to a 148-143 victory over the Atlanta Hawks with a remarkable performance on Friday evening. His achievement establishes him as the only European player in NBA history to score at least 70 points in a game. Doncic now shares the third-best scoring performance in NBA history with Wilt Chamberlain and David Thompson but behind Chamberlain's 100 points and Kobe Bryant's 81 points.

Doncic joined Real Madrid when he was just 13 in September 2012. He went on to spend several years in the Spanish capital before crossing the Atlantic to try his luck in the NBA. The basketball star closely follows the Real Madrid football team whenever he gets time and even congratulated Vinicius after he scored a hat-trick in the Super Cup final against Barcelona earlier this month.

Vinicius did not miss the opportunity to return the favour and quoted the same tweet and wrote "73 puntos 😅😅😅😅 LEYENDA!!!! (73 points, legend)".

Real Madrid also shared a congratulatory message on X for Doncic and wrote: "Fantastic, @luka7doncic! 73 points! A feat only within the reach of the greatest legends of the @NBA, like you already are. Congratulations! Always proud of our honorary partner. Go Madrid!".

Doncic will return to action on Saturday night against the Sacramento Kings in the NBA. Whereas, Vinicius Jr. will take the pitch at the Canary Islands against Las Palmas in a La Liga encounter on the same day.