Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James may play different sports, but they have a lot in common. They are two of the biggest superstars in the entire world, and two of the most polarizing. They have it all: money, fame, awards, and championships, but that's not going to stop me from saying they are two of the most underappreciated athletes in the world.
Underappreciated? How can you say they are underappreciated? Well, now that I have your attention, I will explain it.
In the case of both athletes, we (meaning the fans and media) pick apart everything they do with a fine-toothed comb. No other megastar has ever experienced something like it before.
We expect them to be perfect. To be as great as they truly are and play every play with a competitive spirit like no other, and yet we also want them to be more humble than Moses. They astonish us with skill and athleticism, but if they make a face or fall over, or don’t give maximum effort every second of every minute of every game, then our love for them flips faster than Usain Bolt running a 40 yard dash.
Both men seem to be chasing a real life unicorn in the sports they play in. The hunt for a unicorn represents a hunt for perfection, no mortal can catch this creature so in turn they are always chasing perfection, but never attain it.
In the case of Ronaldo, Messi is that unicorn, and unfortunately for Ronaldo, the legend of Messi is still growing. Messi is the best, not just between the two of them, but of all time. He represents the absolute beauty of the game and its perfection. Some of the things Messi does defy logic, reason, and reality almost like a myth. And becayse Ronaldo plays in the same era as Messi, and is roughly the same age, he is always going to be compared him. He will always be chasing Messi in the eyes of the fans and media. All the unbelievable things Ronaldo does on a daily basis will still always seem a notch behind. It’s a very small notch, but it is unignorable in the face of true greatness.
In the case of LeBron his unicorn has retired, but his myth has only gotten bigger and stronger in his absence. I am obviously speaking of the one and only Michael Jordan. LeBron wears the same number as Jordan, was proclaimed the next Jordan, and has been compared to Jordan every day of his life since he was first thrown on to our television sets at the young age of 15 and portrayed as the guy who could one day surpass Jordan as the greatest basketball player of all time.
The problem for LeBron is that Michael Jordan is as close to perfection as there is in the history of basketball. He went 6 for 6 in the NBA finals and won 6 finals MVPs. That's what people remember, even though he played 9 other seasons and didn't win those years. There really is nothing LeBron could have done to live up to expectations short of going to 7 NBA finals, winning all 7, and earning 7 finals MVPs. LeBron was and still is chasing a place he can never reach no matter what he does.
Now, LeBron came in to the NBA straight out of high school unlike Jordan who went to college, but at 31 years old LeBron has taken his teams to more NBA finals than Jordan had by 31 and won just as many MVPs. He’s a better rebounder than Jordan, a way better passer than Jordan, and more versatile defensively than Jordan because he is simply just a finer physical specimen. But LeBron at 31 only has 2 Championships to Jordan’s 3, and has lost 3 times in the finals.
As amazing as LeBron is, we can never fully appreciate him becuase of Jordan. Every time LeBron is mentioned, the phrase "yeah but Jordan was better" won't be far behind.
The other biggest reason that these two extraordinary athletes are underappreciated is because they are just polarizing people. Ronaldo is a poster boy for what women want, and what men wish they were. He is ridiculously good looking, so much so that he is a model as well as an amazing athlete. If he were not an athlete, he could probably make a great living as a model. It’s almost unfair how much he has going for him. He makes an ungodly amount of money, he dates the most beautiful women, and lives a life we all wish we could, but on the other side of all of that he works his butt off to be absolutely great at what he does. We all just see the finished product and say “oh, it must be nice” but the reality is, although he was blessed with great genes and god given talent, this guy works on his craft harder than anyone else, and that's what's made him the best.
Here is just one variation of Ronaldo's workout and diet. 
We don’t give him enough credit for what he does to get himself ready, and for the sacrifices he makes to keep his body looking the way it does. We think it happens naturally. That is underappreciating what he does, what he goes through.
I don’t know many people who have the discipline to work out and eat the way professional athletes do in order to make sure their body is physically ready to take on what they put it through. A lot of people say they would be able to, and these are the same people who can’t make themselves exercise for 3 days a week for just 30 minutes. But in their mind, if you give them $200 million all of the sudden they will be there every day!
In my experience giving someone the means to live and do whatever they want for the rest of their life does not generally equate to that person sacrificing the pleasure of food, or time, but these athletes make those sacrifices because they have a desire to be great.
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LeBron likewise is an absolute specimen when it comes to size and strength, but it’s not like he doesn’t have to work at it. Yes the old saying is you can’t teach height and he is lucky to be 6’ 9”, but he does still have to work on his craft, his size and strength, his quickness, speed and agility. I think he gets criticized sometimes because he is so big that we look at him and say “well I mean if I were that size...” Like if somehow you were given the body of LeBron James you’d be the same exact player he is. That’s totally devaluing the time and effort both LeBron and Ronaldo put in to what they do for a living: the hours the spend in the gym, on the court or on the field perfecting their games. And because these two are so extraordinary for their sizes in comparison to their competition, we devalue how skilled they are as well. We believe their speed, or strength compared to a smaller, slower opponent, gives them an “unfair” advantage, when the reality is that they worked to get that size, speed and strength to create that advantage.
Right now when you look at Ronaldo and LeBron their careers are very similar. Ronaldo was a teenager when he burst onto the scene, but became a household name with Manchester United shortly before moving on to Real Madrid, and now rumors circulate that he has one foot out the door. LeBron started in Cleveland as a teenager as well, then moved to Miami and is now back in Cleveland, and now he too has rumors circulating that he has one foot out the door. People see them and think everything they do is all about them, that they are selfish, for reasons that just aren't valid.
We need to appreciate them. Everywhere they go they make their teams better. They break records, they’ve won awards, they’ve lead their teams to titles. They work hard, they stay out of trouble off the field. They are good role models for kids, and they are good fathers to kids of their own. They are smart, charming, and seem like truly good people.
Ronaldo and LeBron have reached heights in their careers that many dream of reaching, but it seems like they are still chasing something, like they will always be chasing something. It seem like nothing they do will ever quell the desire for perfection they have in themselves. And because of this, because they carry themselves in this way, I feel even they don’t even appreciate their own greatness.
