“Messi must have been 18 at the time”

In 2017, NBA legend Kobe Bryant revealed Ronaldinho’s prediction about how Lionel Messi would become “the greatest player of all time.” Bryant, who was an avid Barcelona supporter, opened up about how he met Messi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and how he struck up a relationship with the Argentine icon.

Messi rose through the ranks at Barcelona and became not only a club legend, but arguably the sport’s greatest player. The 38-year-old has won numerous individual accolades and is currently the most decorated player in football history.

Long before Lionel Messi became famous around the world, Kobe Bryant was in Los Angeles when Barcelona visited for a friendly match. Bryant met with the team through Nike and had a brief conversation with Ronaldinho.

“I think Messi must have been 18 at the time, maybe 17. Ronaldinho called him and said, ‘Kobe, I want you to meet the player who will be the greatest player of all time,'” Kobe recalled in a phone interview with ESPN FC.

“At the Olympics, the cafeteria is always the best place to be because all the athletes from all the teams are in one place. When we were walking around the cafeteria, we saw him and his team sitting at one of the tables, and I walked over and sat with him and kind of talked a little bit about the Olympics, the game. It was fun,” he added.

After Messi was promoted to Barcelona’s senior team, Ronaldinho was among the senior players who helped him develop and integrate into the team.

‘We already expected him to be the best’ – When Ronaldinho reflected on Lionel Messi’s rise

As Lionel Messi broke into Barcelona’s senior team as a teenager, Ronaldinho and his fellow senior players knew he would one day be the best footballer in the world. Interestingly, it was Ronaldinho who assisted Messi’s first goal for Barcelona in a match against Albacete in 2005, moments after a similar effort was ruled offside.

“Me, Deco and the whole team followed Leo from the youth team, went to watch his matches,” Ronaldinho told The Athletic in 2023. “We already expected him to be the best.”

While Ronaldinho has since retired from the sport, Messi plies his trade with Inter Miami in MLS. The two men faced each other 80 times and scored a combined eight goals.