LeBron James Has Won His Fourth MVP Award


Not that there was any suspense to any of this, but on Sunday, LeBron James will be presented with the fourth regular season MVP award of his storied career. James joins elite company, becoming just the fifth player in NBA history to win the award four times (the others are Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain). Per ESPN: “The only suspense remaining is in the final tally and how far James distanced himself in the voting from the other candidates this season, include Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers. The Heat are scheduling an awards presentation Sunday, and James also will be presented the MVP trophy by NBA commissioner David Stern at AmericanAirlines Arena at the start of their second-round series next week in Miami. The Heat, who have been idle for a week, swept their first-round playoff series against Milwaukee and will face either Chicago or Brooklyn in the conference semifinals, starting Monday. The Bulls and Nets play Game 7 of their first-round series Saturday in Brooklyn. James has said for weeks that he would be honored to be mentioned alongside Jordan, Chamberlain, Abdul-Jabbar and Russell in MVP recognition. But James said Friday that he’s more focused on the playoffs and helping the Heat defend their title. […] James averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals and one block in 76 games in his 10th season in the league. He shot career-best percentages from the field (.565) and 3-point range (.406) and ranked in the top 10 in scoring, assists, steals and field-goal percentage among those who played in at least 70 games this season. Last week, James finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting for the second time since 2009. He led the Heat to a franchise-best 66-16 finish, which included the best home record in team history and a 27-game winning streak that was the second-longest in NBA history, behind the 33-game streak set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.”