Pat Riley Says LeBron James Transformed Himself in Order to Win a Championship


Pat Riley, the architect of the Miami Heat, opened up about the personal transformation that LeBron James underwent during the journey to his first NBA title. From WQAM in Miami (via SRI): “What have you seen with LeBron in the last 12 months?: ‘The truly gifted athletes and great, great players, where all of the responsibility, or a good portion of the responsibility is thrust on them to produce for your team to win, he’s an example of one of those guys. You go back in history and the biggest fights or championship games in all sports, and somewhere one of those players like LeBron will always rise above the norm. … So, how he changed over the course of the season really had to do with a man that came to terms with really, who he was, what he was trying to project out there, and he said this many times, was somebody that he was not. And I think he was in constant disharmony with the media and how he was being covered. … I think he’s erased all of that and I think great, great players who are highly judged get the credit, get the criticism and then they get the fame that comes with all of that. … He overcame incredible external adversity, internal adversity with how he felt about himself and in the very end of the day, he was the one raising the trophy.’”