Why LeBron will never be Tiger

LeBron James and Tiger Woods have one thing in common.  For a certain amount of time in their respective sports, they were the single greatest player.  And that is where the similarities end.

If you take a look at the career trajectories of the two superstars, they are incredibly similar.  Both were hailed from an extremely young age as the savior, the king-in-waiting of their respective sports.  LeBron went straight from high school to the NBA, while Tiger cut his college career short to join the PGA Tour.

The difference between the two stems from one very simple fact – that America loves winners.  After joining the PGA Tour in 1996, it took Tiger just three months to win his first two events.  The following season, Tiger ran laps around the competition at Augusta, winning the Masters by an astounding twelve shots.  For all the hype, the talk-show appearances, and gaudy endorsement contracts, Tiger had lived up to the hype and more.  His fan base grew every day, to the point where it rivaled the legendary “Arnie’s Army.”  Getting within sight of Tiger at a major championship required precision maneuvering and planning, and those lucky enough to see him play were most likely witnessing a winning performance.  The world had been promised a savior for the game of golf, and Woods had provided.

LeBron's inabilty to win is what seperates him from Tiger.

LeBron’s early career started off just as promising as Tiger’s.  As a member of the lowly Cleveland Cavaliers, nobody expected LeBron to win a title right off the bat.  Instead, he established himself as the most dominant scoring threat in the game, as well as boasting the best all-around game in the NBA.  And then, when faced with his first NBA Finals, LeBron choked.  A 4-0 sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.  Then in 2010, LeBron’s Cavs bowed to the Celtics, with LeBron scoring just 15 points in the deciding game.  By the time that James was announcing his offseason move to Miami, the fans had all but forgotten what he had done.  The 45 point performance against the Celtics in the 2008 playoffs was forgotten.  The scoring titles, the Conference Championship, and the fact that he had taken a last-place team to the top of the NBA.  When all his accomplishments were added up, the fact remained that LeBron had yet to win an NBA Championship.

In November of 2009, the sports world was rocked by word of Tiger’s sex scandal, and from that point everything went downhill from there. The 10-time Player of the Year has yet to win an event since news of the scandal broke.  Millions were horrified at the stories of Tiger’s infidelity, and yet, he remains less hated than LeBron James.  At this point in time, LeBron James is without a doubt the most hated athlete in sports.  And it’s because he can’t win.  America is willing to forgive winners.  They will look past Wood’s past if he could just give us the player we saw win a U.S. Open on one leg, the player who electrified the world and made golf cool again.  LeBron didn’t commit murder, he simply just changed teams.  And he is hated for it.  Tiger, once the perfect role model for every young athlete, has ruined this image. But people still root for him.  The advertisers, the fans, the tournament sponsors, and the media are all dying for Tiger to win again.  They know he can do it.  When he is within three strokes of the lead, we are treated to a “Tiger Watch” on ESPN.  Tiger withdrawing from a tournament is a bigger story than someone else winning it.  The world is dying to have Tiger back, and they will forgive him if he just starts winning again.  Maybe if LeBron finally proves himself to be a winner, the world will forgive him too.

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