LeBron James rushed to the defense of Turner Sports reporter Allie LaForce after she was attacked on Twitter.com last night. LaForce seemed to blindside the Cavaliers star by asking him about the death of NBA coach Gregg Popovich’s wife, following his 46-point performance against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
Popvich’s wife of 40 years, Erin Popovich, passed away on Wednesday after a long illness. She was 67.
LeBron seemed caught off-guard and at a loss for words after LaForce informed him about Mrs. Popvich’s death.
“Um, sh-t.. Um… Obviously I’m a huge Pop fan. I love Pop…,” he said, his voice trailing off.
“That’s such a tragedy and my best wishes go out to Pop and his family,” he continued.
“I know that’s devastating news and holy sh… It’s just a lot. The NBA family, we all sit together and compete every night. But something like this happens, it puts everything in perspective. So I send my, I send my, ah, well wishes and my prayers up to the heavens above. I know the Man above never makes a mistake even when you sometimes have to, um, ask why, but… That’s just terrible news. And, um, best of luck to Pop, man, and everybody in San Antonio; the whole Spurs family.”
LaForce was immediately attacked online for appearing to surprise LeBron, who carried his Cavaliers to a 100-97 victory over the Pacers to even the playoff series at 1-1.
But LeBron posted a video to his Uninterrupted website’s Twitter account, saying he was not blindsided.
“A lot of people think I was blindsided. That is absolutely false,” James said in the video. “Allie LaForce told me she was going to ask me the question and if it was OK. Once I started talking about it on-air, actually my emotions kind of took over and that was just my emotions coming straight from the heart.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18zXDQDO3S0
