NBA star LeBron James is a big soccer fan. He has made statements about his love for sports countless times. LeBron took his fandom to a point where he joined the exclusive list of Serena Williams and Ryan Reynolds. His love for the game led him to invest millions in the club. A couple of years ago, he released a video talking about how much he respects soccer players and talking about greats. Apart from that, he also tweeted about the similarities between him and Argentinian star Lionel Messi.

In the video talking about his favorite soccer players, LeBron James took big names like Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappe along with the whole of Liverpool FC. However, he forgot some of the most important names, like Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. But he didn’t forget to take a sly dig at the AC Milan forward Zlatan.

LeBron James tweeted about Lionel Messi

The tweet came out back in 2014 during the World Cup. The 2014 World Cup was going very well for the Argentinian team. They had won all three matches in the group stage and met Switzerland in the round of 16. The match was almost goalless up until the last few minutes of extra time. In the 118th minute, Angel di Maria got a beautiful pass from Lionel Messi and he didn’t make any mistake in putting the ball in the net.

The NBA King LeBron James discussed the same goal in his Tweet the following day. He wrote, “Heard Messi made the game winning pass! That’s my type of play/er. Win, loss, draw u make the right play to help your team be successful“. He was right. It was the right play, and it did make the team win the match 1-0. Although Switzerland came extremely close to scoring an equalizer in the last minutes of the game.

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The Argentinian team cruised through the competition to the finals. However, all the fans would be heartbroken after Germany would do to Argentina what they did to Switzerland. Mario Gotze scored a goal in the overtime and made sure that Germany would win the title. Argentinian fans would have to wait 8 long years before they could see their team winning the prestigious trophy.

When Tennis legend talked about Messi

While talking about his cool and calm nature in an interview with FT, the journalist reminded Roger Federer that one other athlete that has the same reputation is Lionel Messi. He drew out the parallel between the two legends and how they stay calm even in most pressure-inducing situations.

Roger Federer’s face lit up as the journalist mentioned Lionel Messi. If this isn’t a sign that the guy loves soccer, nothing will. Federer then said, “Funny enough, I haven’t spoken about Messi nearly enough. What I love about Messi probably most is when he gets the ball and is able to turn the body towards goal, and then he has full vision. Then he’s going to pass, or dribble, or shoot. There’s always three options for him. He’s one of the few who’s got that.”

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There are other countless instances of legends praising Messi. What are your views on the legends of sports appreciating Lionel Messi? Who do you think deserves more appreciation, Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? Tell us in the comments.