Nick Kyrgios is not backing down in his criticism of tennis' LeBron James, revealing he plans to keep calling out any poor behaviour from Novak Djokovic.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kyrgios last week labelled Djokovic a "tool" for asking Australian Open organisers to ease quarantine restrictions for players.
It was the latest in a long line of criticism from the Australian ace directed at the world No.1, and former president of the ATP Player Council.
Djokovic's infamous exhibition tournament last June, which ended in him and other players testing positive for COVID-19, was described by Kyrgios as "boneheaded".
World No.47 Kyrgios feels it is important to hold fellow tennis professionals to account when they act out.
A die-hard NBA fan, Kyrgios compared the eight-time Australian Open winner's influence to that of LA Lakers superstar LeBron James.
"(Djokovic is) one of our leaders of our sport. He's technically our LeBron James in the way he has to be setting an example for all tennis players," Kyrgios told CNN.
"When he was doing some of the things he was doing during the global pandemic, it just wasn't the right time.
"I know everyone makes mistakes, some of us go off track sometimes, and I think we have to hold each other accountable.
"We're colleagues at the end of the day; we compete against each other, we play in the same sport.
"No one else was really holding him (Djokovic) accountable. Everyone loses their way a little bit but I think he just needs to pull it back.
"I'm not doing any of this sort of stuff for media attention: these are the morals I've grown up with and I was just trying to do my part."
Australian Associated Press
