Two absolute legends of their sport meet by chance at the airport and share the encounter on social media.
All hell broke loose on Twitter.
USA - Sometimes there are these coincidences that make you think: "It doesn't exist".
You are somewhere far from home and suddenly you see someone you know.
As the saying goes: the world is small.
Such an encounter has now taken place at an airport in the USA.
We found out about her on Twitter.
There Kareem Abdul-Jabbar tweeted with a photo on January 22 in the evening.
It shows him with another man.
Abdul-Jabbar wrote: "Congratulations Tony Hawk on your appearance on Saturday Night Live yesterday.
It was great meeting you at the airport!!”
Sports legends meet: Tony Hawk and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are superstars in the USA
Just 45 minutes later, Hawk tweeted Abdul-Jabbar's photo and wrote, "Saw this legend at the airport today that I've looked up to - literally and figuratively - most of my life.
By the way, I'm 1.90 meters tall." Next to the ex-basketball player, Hawk actually looks small.
No wonder Abdul-Jabbar is 2.18 meters tall.
Shortly thereafter, Hawk added that he looked "like our co-pilot Roger Murdock, which was strange."
Even though many people in Germany probably don't know these two gentlemen, they are legends in the USA.
Abdul-Jabbar is considered one of the greatest basketball players in history.
During his playing days, he won the NBA title six times and was voted best player several times.
When the now 75-year-old retired in 1989, he held the record for nine stats.
Tweets from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tony Hawk are through the roof
Tony Hawk is the most famous professional skateboarder in the United States and probably the world.
At the age of 16 he was already considered the world's best skater.
At the age of 31, the now 53-year-old was the first to perform a 900-degree turn in the halfpipe, which was considered the most difficult trick in the world at the time.
After eleven world championship titles, Hawk, who also made video games, retired from professional life in 2003 and has only performed for fun and in shows ever since.
The reactions on Twitter show that these two gentlemen are indeed legends.
The two tweets combined have been viewed more than 16 million times as of January 24.
They have been "liked" more than 100,000 times and have more than 4,600 retweets.
In one, the grace is evident: "Good for you, Tony.
Kareem is an exceptional person.
Standing in his shadow is enriching," writes one user.
Another US sports legend appeared on Kai Pflaume's "Small vs. Large" show.
(mt)