"Getting hella emotional": LeBron James gives Barry Sanders figurative flowers on Twitter amid documentary release

Long before LeBron James was one of the greatest NBA players in the world, he was just a young sports fan looking up to his idols. One of James' idols was NFL standout Barry Sanders, who many consider to be one of the most elusive running backs in the history of the NFL. As the 1997 MVP and a two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Sanders' reputation precedes itself.

Despite his dominance, Sanders apparently decided to walk away from the NFL at the prime of his career, a move that shocked many at the time. From the sounds of things, it was unclear to many why such a dominant player decided to walk away.

The stunning decision was recently featured in the Amazon Prime documentary: Bye Bye Barry, which has become a trending program on Prime Video. This week, future Hall of Famer LeBron James sat down to watch the film, giving Sanders his flowers on social media.

"Up watching this Barry Sanders documentary and I’m getting hella emotional. This guy is simply INCREDIBLE!!!!"

"He's amazing to say the least" - LeBron James gushed over Barry Sanders' skills back in 2022

Many NBA fans are well aware that LeBron James is a big NFL fan. As the story goes, he met his close friend-turned-agent Rich Paul many years ago after noticing a young Paul wearing a rare NFL jersey.

As such, James frequently enjoys watching the NCAA and NFL Football). Whether he's watching famed coach Deion Sanders coach the CSU Buffaloes or the Cleveland Browns on a Sunday, James enjoys talking about the NFL.

Last year, he once again praised Barry Sanders (no relation to the aforementioned Deion Sanders) as the greatest running back he's ever seen in his life. In response to a highlight video of Sanders, James reposted the footage on his Instagram story.

He captioned it as:

“The greatest RB I've ever seen in my life!!! Wow he was amazing to say the least.”

While Sanders' retirement remained a mystery for years, the picture painted by the documentary indicates that the team's struggles were the main source of frustration. In addition to players leaving, the front office allegedly failed to return players, resulting in Sanders deciding to retire from the brutal sport.