Lionel Messi picks out his basketball and tennis GOATS and explains why Diego Maradona will always be his 'greatest idol'

Messi has never hidden his emotions when it comes to Maradona. Speaking to Tom Llamas on NBC Nightly News, the Inter Miami superstar once again waxed lyrical about the late Argentina icon, saying: "For us Argentinians, Maradona was always our greatest idol and greatest admiration, for everything he meant to us. I was little and saw him play live. Diego transcended everything."

After winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Messi dedicated his triumph to Maradona. "I would have liked Diego to give me the cup, or at least to see all this, to see Argentina as world champions, with everything he wanted and how he loved the national team." he said. "I think from above, he, like a lot of people who love me, were strong."

Messi also opened up about his admiration for athletes in other sports, especially those who, like him, have redefined greatness.

"When it comes to other sports, obviously I think the same thing happened with [Michael] Jordan," he said. "I really admire tennis players like [Roger] Federer, Rafa [Nadal] and [Novak] Djokovic and I think that all three of them made the competition much bigger than it was before.

"Competing for so long to be the best and being so close to each other made it all much more fantastic. I don’t know, I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of athletes but to highlight a few, I think I’d go with those, to name a few from basketball. LeBron [James], Steph [Curry], the best. The players that I admire a lot and I think they gave a lot to the sport, each in their own way. So, well, there are several names."

In 2022, when Federer announced his retirement from tennis, Messi paid tribute on Instagram with a heartfelt message: "A genius, unique in the history of tennis and an example for any athlete. All the best in your new stage, we will miss seeing you on the court, making us enjoy."

Earlier this year, Messi and his family attended the Miami Open, watching Novak Djokovic storm past Grigor Dimitrov to reach the final. After the match, the two icons shared a warm embrace and exchanged signed shirts in the locker room. 

Djokovic, still buzzing after his win, later said: "Amazing to have him. It is a great honour to play, probably for the first time, in front of him live. I am really grateful he was here with his son and the family. I admired him, of course, as most of the world did for most of his career, and it is amazing he still keeps going. We are actually the same age, born in 1987, so it is nice to have him around."

Even as he dominates in MLS, the question that keeps surfacing is: will Messi play at the 2026 World Cup? The Argentine genius is still defying time with Inter Miami, where he recently bagged the MLS Golden Boot with 29 goals in the regular season. Earlier this month, he signed a new deal through 2028, underlining his commitment to the Herons. 

But when asked by NBC about the prospect of one last World Cup, his response was measured. 

"Well, the truth is that yes, it's something extraordinary to be able to be in a World Cup. And I would like to be there," he said. "To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there. I am going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter Miami and see if I can really be 100 per cent. I'm really eager because it's the World Cup. We're coming off winning the last World Cup, and being able to defend it on the field again is spectacular because it's always a dream to play with the national team, especially in official competitions, so hopefully God will allow me to do it once again."

Whether or not he graces the next World Cup, Messi has completed football. Now, it remains to be seen if he takes the pitch to write one more beautiful chapter on the global stage.