There is a long history of elite athletes using their arrival at training as a prime time to show off their skills. While playing for the Boston Celtics in the NBA, Antoine Walker once drove his Ferrari to the gym for a cheeky flex, which got the attention of Michael Jordan, who loved competition. 

It was said that the second man was so unimpressed by Walker’s attempt to become the alpha dog that he reciprocated by showing up to work out every day in a different Ferrari and wearing similar Jumpman sweatsuits. Now, in a slightly more modern setting, Neymar Jr.’s beautiful customized Mercedes-Benz helicopter is the closest anyone has come to an MJ-level training entrance flex.

Let’s go back in time a bit. The year was 2019. A moment when there was still some hope in the air instead of, say, wildfire ash and COVID-19 particles? The talented player for Paris Saint-Germain reported for international service with the Brazil national team before that year’s Copa America tournament. 

He had been out for three months with a metatarsal injury that kept him from playing. Neymar didn’t drive to the stage in one of his many supercars or even hire a chauffeur. Instead, he flew to the Granja Comary sports complex in Teresopolis, Brazil, in a Mercedes-Benz Airbus H-145 helicopter.