Zlatan Ibrahimovic Tells LeBron James To "Stay Out Of Politics" And "Stick To Sports"

Zlatan Ibrahimovic believes basketball's LeBron James should "stick to sports" and has been critical of athletes who are social activists.

Ibrahimovic is one of the finest footballers of his generation and currently plays for Italian side AC Milan in Serie A.

He recently sat down with Discovery+ in Sweden and the topic turned to sports stars off the field.

The 39-year-old was asked about LA Lakers superstar James and while praising him, he had a few other words.

"(LeBron) is phenomenal at what he's doing, but I don't like when people have some kind of status, they go and do politics at the same time," the Swede said per USA Today.

"Do what you're good at. Do the category you do. I play football because I'm the best at playing football. I don't do politics. If I would be a political politician, I would do politics.

"That is the big first mistake people do when they become famous and they become in a certain status. Stay out of it. Just do what you do best because it doesn't look good."

James has been a huge social activist in recent years and helped organise the "More Than a Vote" campaign - in an attempt to get Americans to polling stations.

He was also vocal in his stance against former president Donald Trump and openly celebrated his defeat to Joe Biden in last year's presidential election.

Elsewhere in the interview, Ibrahimovic discussed who he believes is the greatest footballer in history.

Ronaldo Nazario got the nod and Ibrahimovic gushed about his love of the Brazilian legend.

He said: "I don't need to describe Ronaldo, 'The Phenomenon'.

"The way he was moving, the way he did his stepovers, the way he did 'the snake'. The way he was moving, for me he's the greatest player through history, no doubt."

'O Fenomeno' finished his club career with 352 goals in 518 appearances, while he hit 62 in 98 for his country - including 15 in World Cup tournaments.