CHARLOTTE, N.C.: LeBron James can empathize with Ronda Rousey today. James has been there and says he understands how Rousey is feeling.
Rousey’s UFC comeback fight ended 48 seconds after it started when she was knocked out in the first round Friday night by Amanda Nunes. Rousey has lost her last two fights in stunning fashion after exploding to the top of the sport by dominating her first 12 fights.
“In sports, in general, they build you up as high as they can, put you on the highest mountain in the world, just to tear you down. That’s coming from somebody who has experienced it. And that’s exactly what she’s going through right now,” James told the Beacon Journal on Saturday. “That’s a fact. I know exactly how she feels because I was that athlete. I went through that.”
James did not see Rousey's fight Friday. He enjoyed a birthday dinner with his teammates and watched some of the undercard, as well as the conclusion of the Michigan-Florida State game.
He likened Rousey’s fall to his move to Miami. James became the league’s No. 1 villain during his first season in Miami, particularly after the Heat lost to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
He eventually reclaimed his place as the king of the NBA, winning three championships over the last five years. Rousey’s future remains unknown.
“You don’t know her mindset. You don’t know the drive, is the drive still there? You don’t know,” James said. “But you can tell that it’s built and built and built and built and built, they always make the teardown story more important than how long it took for her to actually get to the mountaintop.”