LOS ANGELES -- Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo admitted that he had never heard of the television show "60 Minutes" before filming an interview with CBS reporter Steve Kroft a couple of months ago. The interview, which aired Sunday night, drew praise from fans and from Antetokounmpo himself.

"The most important thing" about the "60 Minutes" profile of him, Giannis Antetokounmpo said, was that "it talked about how hard someone's got to work to succeed in life." Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports

"To be honest with you, at first when my agent told me, 'They want you to do an interview, a piece for "60 Minutes," 'I was like, 'What is "60 Minutes"?' " Antetokounmpo said after Tuesday night's loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. "I didn't know what it was, but they told me it was really, really big. The last NBA player that was on it was LeBron James so I was like, 'OK, cool. I'll do it.'

"They told me they were going to talk about my childhood, where I came from and stuff like that, and I was like, 'OK, that sounds good,' and they were really, really good people. They made me feel comfortable and it worked really well."

The piece, which ran for almost 15 minutes on the program, focused on Antetokounmpo's rise to NBA prominence from humble beginnings in Greece. The 23-year-old big man said he was very proud of the story, especially after coming to understand what a big deal it was for him to be featured on the show.

"The piece was really, really good," Antetokounmpo said. "I loved it. It talked about me, it talked about my family, it talked about where I came from. And the most important thing, it talked about how hard someone's got to work to succeed in life and that was really, really good that they did that. It was a great piece by them."

In his fifth NBA season, Antetokounmpo has become one of the game's most recognizable stars, averaging 27.3 points, 10 rebounds and 4.8 assists a game.

"Obviously it's a very impressive story," Bucks interim head coach Joe Prunty said before Tuesday's game. "He's a tremendous young man. And I think the way he carries himself, represents the organization, represents the city, you can't ask for anything more. Such a quality young man."

Antetokounmpo said he heard from a variety of people after the piece aired, many of whom shared a similar sentiment.

"I heard from a lot of people," Antetokounmpo said. "They told me, 'You've got to keep working hard, keep staying humble, and good things will come. You've done it so far, so you've got to keep doing [it].' "