Barcelona Lionel Messi Says Kobe Bryant Career Is Reason He Got Interested In NBA Basketball

The Kobe Bryant farewell tour is in full effect. Since the announcement of his retirement the headlines have shifted from the incessant talk of Kobe's poor shooting night, to the glorification of an NBA icon (what a relief, too! That other stuff gave all the feels of nails slowly raking down a chalkboard). Everybody wants to get in on the act--from fans, to players, to celebrities, to your cousin's grandma who's never actually watched an NBA game in her life. Other athletes in other sports are also taking note. Most notably, Lionel Messi, Barcelona and Argentina soccer star, who cited Bryant as the reason he got interested in to basketball.

A photo posted by Leo Messi (@leomessi) on Dec 2, 2015 at 8:29am PST

"It's always sad to hear when a sportsman is retiring," wrote Messi on his Instagram page, after presumably writing the same in Spanish. "But @kobebryant will always be in the history books as one of the greatest. It was he who helped me become interested in basketball. All the best in the next stage of your life, Kobe."

The amount of talent in that one Instagram post is ridiculous. First, there's Bryant, with his 5 NBA titles, 2 Olympic gold medals, and his profuse collection of personal accolades. Then there's Messi, with his four Ballon d'ors (an award for best player on the planet), and four Champions League trophies (the most coveted club competition in the world), along with the rest of his career, which is generally more successful than the dollar menu at McDonald's. Sheesh! That's a post.

Aside from mutual admiration for another, and a common thread of being really ridiculously good at their respective sports, they have something of an off the field/court respect too. They've starred side by side in a series of Turkish Airline commercials that were shot back in 2013--YouTube later deeming it to be an "ad of the decade," according to Yahoo! Sports.

There was a selfie shootout:

And a pretty neat dual for airplane supremacy:

It also appears some of Kobe rubbed off on the Barcelona forward during their time together. If this Herbalife commercial is any indicator, it appears Messi is taking quite nicely to the hardwood:

Kobe and Messi, what more do you need?