The incredible day Ronaldinho introduced Messi to Kobe Bryant

There was a day when, without knowing it, three legends crossed paths at the precise moment one of them was only just beginning his ascent.

In 2015, Kobe Bryant took time to reveal everything about his professional retirement in an interview – a conversation in which he compared himself to Lionel Messi, pointing to the special kind of love both felt for the sports they played. That reference to Messi took him back to the moment FC Barcelona visited the United States on the club’s preseason tour, On Tour USA 2006.

“I was talking with Ronaldinho, a close friend of mine, and he told me: ‘Kobe, I’m going to introduce you to the player who’s going to be the greatest of all time.’”

‘He’s going to be the best’

‘La Pulga’ had been with FC Barcelona’s first team for just a year, after standing out for years as a unique talent at La Masia. But for Ronaldinho – and his discerning eye for talent – the Argentine was different, so much so that he was ready to put him forward as the next “best in the world” in front of Bryant, a five-time NBA champion.

“How? But you’re the best in the world!” Kobe replied. But the Brazilian pointed at Messi. “No, no. He’s going to be the best,” Bryant recalled in an interview with ESPN Latinoamérica – the outlet that allowed the world to hear, from that very first day, Messi being anointed as the greatest.

The interview with Mauricio Pedroza and this unusual anecdote carries the unique flavor of the ‘Mamba’ speaking in Spanish – the language of Lionel Andrés Messi, the boy who would indeed become the greatest of all.

A decade ago, the Lakers icon said he was as talented as the captain of Argentina’s national team. Now, the world is just a month away from mourning the anniversary of his death.

“We’re the same – Messi and I – in how we think about our obsession. For him it’s soccer, for me it’s basketball. As people and in how we speak, we’re different. He’s reserved. But in the love we feel for our sport, we’re the same. In talent too.”

Lionel Messi is three years away from reaching the age at which Kobe Bryant died – and just as the ‘Mamba’ himself said, they have much in common. Because at any age, they were – and will remain – the fastest of all.

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