DUBLIN, Ohio — Cavaliers star LeBron James has drawn criticism over refusing to shake hands with Dwight Howard and the rest of the Orlando Magic after losing the Eastern Conference finals last Saturday.

But when the controversy was brought up to Tiger Woods on Wednesday as he prepared to play in the Memorial Tournament, Woods didn’t blast James, although he might have gotten in a subtle dig.
“Not everyone shakes hands after every game,” Woods said. “Football, a lot of guys just walk off the field. A lot of sports, they do walk off the court or field. Hockey they line up. It’s tradition, and it’s part of our sport.
“The history of our game is about sportsmanship. We call penalties on ourselves. I don’t see anybody in the NFL saying, ’I’m sorry, I held the guy, give me 10 yards.’ That’s what separates our sport, the traditions of our sportsmanship. When you doff the cap and shake someone’s hand and look them in the eyes and say, ’Well done.”’
Woods lives in an exclusive development in Orlando, Fla., and sat courtside for the Cavs-Magic games in Florida.
“Watching them play right there on the floor, it’s phenomenal with the banging and how physical it is,” Woods said. “These guys and their strength and the balance that they have, it’s just phenomenal to watch.”
But Woods was born in Cypress, Calif., and will be pulling for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals against the Magic.
“I was kind of torn a little bit,” said Woods, 33. “I live in Orlando and root for the Magic, but I’m from L.A. I grew up watching Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy and Byron Scott and all those teams, before that Bob McAdoo and Norm Nixon.
“It is hard. But I’m from L.A.”