Italian tennis sensation Matteo Berrettini, an ardent NBA fan, calls LeBron James his idol. The tennis star recently expressed his amazement and respect towards King James’ phenomenal performance that helped the LA Lakers make a nail-biting comeback against crosstown rivals LA Clippers. It was jaw-dropping, and Berrettini was in awe.

In their game against the Clippers, the Lakers were trailing 98-77 in the fourth quarter when James turned on the heat. Like the rest of us, the Italian tennis sensation was glued to his screen, following the king in breathless form.

Matteo Berrettini Is In Awe Of Lebron James

39-year-old NBA legend LeBron James showcased his scoring prowess and outclassed the entire Clippers squad by scoring an astonishing 19 points alone, in the last 12 minutes of the match. He was directly involved in the scoring of 30 of his team’s 39 points in the fourth quarter if you add his assists to the mix.

The fanboy in Berrettini couldn’t help but emote his feelings. He took to Instagram but resorted to a rather subtle but powerful message in his only stories for the day. He posted a picture of Lebron James celebrating a point alongside an infinity sign and a crown, also known as an infinity crown.

Berrettini had even previously compared the tennis Big 3 with basketball’s Big 3. In an interview with La Stampa, stated that for him, Rafael Nadal is like LeBron James, while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were similar to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, respectively.

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However, there was a time when the 26-year-old Italian’s over-enthusiasm made him apologize to basketball fans, that too in regards to King James himself.

Matteo Berrettini Unknowingly Made A Controversial Remark

Just last year Berrettini made a social media faux pas when he posted a picture of the basketball legend alongside an emoji of a gorilla and a crown. Considering the legend’s background, the post seemed to have racist connotations to many around the world, with a large number of the Italian’s followers being understandably offended.

The post was however deleted by Berrettini some 8 hours later. What followed was an admittance of his realization where he cleared, “I am very sorry if my previous story post offended anyone,” Matteo Berrettini said. “I was informed that it can easily be misinterpreted so I have deleted it. Lebron is my biggest idol. Incredible role model and inspiration.”

Berrettini is currently struggling with an ankle injury and has been out of the sport since the US Open in August last year. He is however all set to make a comeback in the upcoming Arizona Tennis Classic.