Iron sharpens iron. In sports, that saying is true, as well. Lionel Messi made that clear as he named some of the generational athletes that inspire him, as he handed his flowers to LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, and Rafael Nadal.
During a recent interview with NBC News, Messi was asked about fellow sports athletes he looks up to, and the Inter Miami star didn’t want to leave anyone out of his list.
“I admire tennis players like Federer, Rafa, and Djokovic,” Messi told NBC News’ Tom Llamas. “I think the three of them made competition much bigger than it used to be. Competing for so long to be the best and being so close to each other made everything much more incredible.
“I’m surely forgetting many athletes, but to highlight a few, I’d stick with them. From

 Bolavip Soccer
 Bolavip Soccer

 WFMJ-TV Sports
 WFMJ-TV Sports NBC Southern California
 NBC Southern California Essentiallysports Tennis
 Essentiallysports Tennis FOX News
 FOX News Raw Story
 Raw Story AlterNet
 AlterNet Just Jared
 Just Jared NBC News
 NBC News