LeBron James Reveals Question He Asked Tiger Woods During Golf Icon's Meeting with Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers had the opportunity to meet with golf legend Tiger Woods on Saturday, and fellow legend LeBron James didn't hesitate to pick his mind.

"I asked him what the difference in the challenges of climbing the ranks was," James told The Athletic's Dan Woike. "What was the hardest challenge? Was it more of a challenge or harder to climb from zero to No. 1 — or stay at No. 1 knowing everybody was chasing you?"

James said that Woods' answer was that both scenarios presented their own challenges. However, he feels one slightly outweighs the other.

"Staying there. Staying at one. Staying the best player in the world," James said. "When you got everybody chasing you and trying to knock you off the mountaintop, that's more challenging. I mean, it's hard getting up, you know, from zero to one. But my mindset when I left high school, I told myself that I gotta start back at zero, though. I knew I was the No. 1 player in the country as a high school senior and probably high school junior. But when I got to the NBA, I said, 'I'm starting from zero, and now, I gotta get back to one again.'"

Woods, who hosted this weekend's Genesis Invitational, was once ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for 281 consecutive weeks, and his 683 career weeks at the top still stands as the all-time record. He and James faced similar career paths as young phenoms who went on to become some of the greatest competitors in their respective sports.

At 41 years old, James is still playing at a high level while he tries to lead the Lakers to an NBA title this season. He added that he appreciated the rare opportunity to speak to another icon of Woods' caliber.

"It probably would never happen," James told Woike of all-time greats having a moment like Saturday. "Us being in the room together like that, it probably would never happen."