While LeBron James is taking a public beating from fans and the media, he can take comfort in knowing he at least has one supporter. Golfer and fellow sports prodigy, Rory McIlroy, defended the star Heat player to reporters Tuesday.
Speaking at Congressional where the U.S. Open will be held this week, McIlroy said of LeBron “I think he’s been unfairly scrutinized. Everyone is going to have bad days, if it’s on a golf course or on a basketball court. And with sports these days everything is over-analyzed, stats here, stats there, how has your team combined points in the last quarter of the Finals or whatever. It’s just one of those things.”
McIlory continued to put things in perspective. “If people keep talking about having a bad last quarter all the time, it’s going to sort of get to you,” the young golfer said. “But he’s got plenty more chances to win Finals. And I’m sure the Heat will have a chance to win it again next year.”
That’s pretty much what I said. Laugh now about LeBron and the Heat because you won’t have a chance to for much longer. Miami needs to make some roster changes but they will be in the title mix next year, and LeBron will win his championships. McIlroy also brought up another point I’ve made: If you receive enough criticism, it can get inside your head. That happened with LeBron. If enough people are telling you how to play, it’s hard to keep playing your game. My guess is that partially left LeBron confused.
Now that we know McIlroy is buddies with LeBron, maybe he can teach him a few lessons about how to properly handle postgame interviews with class. And for all the criticism McIlroy’s received, he’s lucky he’s playing golf and not basketball, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to get away with things like this.
