On Friday, Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald announced his retirement from the NFL after 10 amazing seasons.
He was the rare interior defensive lineman who was an explosive pass rusher — he totaled 111 sacks for his career and made the Pro Bowl each season he played in the league. Of course, he helped the Rams win the Super Bowl championship during the 2021 season.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is pretty well-known as a huge football fan, and he was a pretty good player on the gridiron in his own right during his high school days. He took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to pay his respects to Donald.
FACTS!!! Congratulations 9️⃣9️⃣!! Was an absolute pleasure to watch you dominate! 🫡 CHAMP https://t.co/x6kKPKtLml
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 15, 2024
This isn’t the first time James has complimented the future Pro Football Hall of Famer. Donald attended a game between the Lakers and Utah Jazz two years ago, and James had plenty of glowing things to say about him.
Via Lakers Nation:
“He’s the greatest defensive player I’ve ever seen play the sport. I say him and Lawrence Taylor, but I didn’t get an opportunity to see Lawrence Taylor play. So (Donald) is the greatest defensive player I’ve ever seen,” James said. “Before I started watching Aaron, I always thought it was Ed Reed or (Troy) Polamalu, but Aaron Donald is the greatest I’ve ever seen on that side of the ball.
“But obviously just being here and watching him over the last few years and just seeing how he’s able to dominate a game, not only with one guy on him, but two guys, three guys, you got a running back chipping you sometimes, and he’s still able to get to the quarterback, get to the running back. And obviously in the Super Bowl, those last two plays were spectacular that he made, stopping the third down by getting the tackle on the guy and then the fourth-and-one being able to get into the backfield and make (Joe) Burrow throw an ill-advised pass.”
James has professed his love for his hometown Cleveland Browns, but it hasn’t prevented him from praising NFL stars on other teams.