Rory McIlroy’s win at The Masters put him into the conversation of all-time great sports-people and NBA star Kyle Lowry has now referenced another global superstar, Lebron James, when praising McIlroy’s achievements.
McIlroy’s dramatic win at Augusta National in a playoff with Justin Rose will take some topping this year.
The emotional scenes and the way it ended resonated with most golf fans around the world and as a result, McIlroy has gone to an even higher level.
Of course, things had to fall into place for McIlroy to win. Yes, he played well himself but he also had Rose miss his putt in the playoff hole, while Bryson DeChambeau failed to put pressure on him.
Now, speaking about how he capitalised on a similar moment himself, NBA star Kyle Lowry has praised McIlroy’s perseverance.
LeBron James referenced as NBA star praises Rory McIlroy’s Masters win
Lowry has been on site at Philadelphia Cricket Club this week with McIlroy contending at The Truist Championship and got the chance to play with The Masters winner in the pro-am.
And when asked to comment on just how impressive McIlroy has been in achieving the Grand Slam, Lowry made comparisons with how when his Toronto Raptors team finally won the NBA Championship with Lebron James out of contention.
“I think that’s just mental fortitude. He put the work in. He made a couple of mistakes. But he figured out to stay the course of his game, stay the process and he continued to chip away at it. I’m sure he wanted the easy win, but when things got difficult, he stayed in the moment. He didn’t let his game, his mind do anything, didn’t let it drift off. You put the work in, you put the effort in, you put the time in. The timing just has to be correct. The timing has to be right. For Rory, I think the timing of that was perfect,” Lowry said.
“He had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. I happened to lose to one of the greatest players ever over and over and over again in LeBron James. When McIlroy got an opportunity to take advantage and when we got an opportunity to take advantage of it, we took advantage of it. That’s what happened. He took advantage of it. Just like us.”
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Why Kyle Lowry compared Rory McIlroy’s win to his own success
For those who don’t follow the NBA, Kyle Lowry’s reference makes perfect sense and he is explaining how it’s all about seizing the moment in sports.
Back in 2019, Lowry’s Toronto Raptors team ended up becoming NBA champions for the first time.
However, while they earned the win against a Steph Curry led Golden State Warriors, there was also an element of fortune in the win as well.
It was the first time in a decade that LeBron James hadn’t been in the NBA playoffs, as his move from the Cavs to the Lakers ensured the Cavs didn’t make the end of season run, while the Lakers also didn’t qualify despite Lebron’s addition.
That left the run to the final easier than previous years – LeBron had been involved in the past eight finals – allowing Lowry and the Raptors to seize the moment and win.
As Lowry says, it’s a testament to McIlroy’s mental resilience that he was able to finally overcome the demons and win out, despite so many near-misses.
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