When Carlos Alcaraz took the court at Indian Wells for the 2026 BNP Paribas Open, he paid homage to one of the city’s biggest sporting figures. By wearing the jersey of five-time NBA champion and LA Lakers forward LeBron James, Alcaraz showed his respect for the legend.
On Tuesday, a video of Alcaraz wearing James’ purple and gold Lakers jersey was circulated on the internet. The Spaniard, while preparing for the Indian Wells tournament, did some gestures that LeBron does much to the cheers of the crowd gathered to watch him.
LeBron James, who has a networth of $800 million, is leaving his footprint on the tour. On Monday, he met 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic at the Crypto.com Arena when the Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings.
This wasn’t the first time the seven-time Grand Slam champion has taken to a practice court wearing the jersey of LeBron. Alcaraz also wore the NBA legend’s jersey during the practice session of the 2026 Australian Open, and in doing so, he earned the attention of LeBron, who paid back the respect with the following words:
“(Salute) to the Young (king).”
Carlos Alcaraz’s Indian Wells Campaign Begins With Tough Opponent
Carlos Alcaraz will face a tough opponent in his first round of the BNP Paribas Open. He will either face former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov or surging Terence Atmane. Five-time Indian Wells champion Novak Djokovic is also in the same half of the draw, meaning they are on a collision course.
When Alcaraz faced Dimitrov last year in California, he lost just two games. But Dimitrov’s record at Indian Wells can’t be ignored, as he has reached the semi-finals in 2021 and the quarter-finals in 2022.
Meanwhile, Atmane will make his main draw debut here after participating last year through qualifying. The Frenchman made it to the semifinals in Cincinnati and is currently at a career high of No. 52 in the rankings. He has a split head to head with Dimitrov.
“It’s amazing. I’ll have hopefully two very good matches going on. We’re going to stay focused on the first one,” Atmane said. “It’s always fun. We played with Grigor last week, so we play again. It’s very funny. The winner of one of us is going to be able to play Carlitos. It’s going to be very much up [in the air] for both of us, so it’s going to be very interesting.”
It remains to be seen if Alcaraz can win this edition of the BNP Paribas Open.
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