MIAMI â€" Miami Heat forward LeBron James is the NBA's MVP for a third time, only the eighth player to rack up that many awards.
By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire
Miami Heat forward LeBron James will be all smiles when he received his third NBA MVP trophy on Sunday before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the visiting Indiana Pacers.
By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire
Miami Heat forward LeBron James will be all smiles when he received his third NBA MVP trophy on Sunday before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series against the visiting Indiana Pacers.
A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that James will be announced Saturday as this year's winner of the league's top individual honor, and that he'll be formally presented with the trophy by Commissioner David Stern on Sunday before Miami hosts the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league has not announced the results.
James is winning the award for the third time in four seasons. The others with at least MVP trophies: centers Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone, forward Larry Bird and guards Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.
James said last week that although another MVP award "would be amazing and would be humbling," it's not what drives him. In his ninth season, James still has not won an NBA title and it's clear that, although he wanted to reclaim the MVP trophy, winning a championship is far and away his top basketball priority.
"What I'm all about is team and ever since I was a kid, I was always taught it's team first," James told the AP on Friday. "My first time playing basketball, we went undefeated and won a championship and Frank Walker Sr. gave everyone on the team a MVP trophy. Right then and there, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to see my teammates reap the benefits, as well."
It's the first time that the Heat will be hosting an MVP celebration.
Center Shaquille O'Neal won his only MVP award before coming to Miami, and James won the 2009 and 2010 trophies with the Cleveland Cavaliersâ€" collecting 225 of a possible 244 first-place votes in those seasons.
Abdul-Jabbar won the MVP six times, Jordan and Russell five times each, Chamberlain four times, the only players with more than James.
"I think he's probably as committed as he's ever been in his career," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said this week, asked to summarize James' season. "And he's always been committed. … We all respond to his energy on the court."
James averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists â€" making him only the fourth player with those totals in at least two seasons, according to STATS LLC, joining guard Oscar Robertson (five times), forward John Havlicek (twice) and Bird (twice).
Add James' 53% shooting and 1.9 steals per game into the mix, and the club gets even more exclusive. Only Jordan had a season with numbers exceeding what James did this season in those categories â€" 1988-89, when Jordan averaged 32.5 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and 2.9 steals on 54% shooting.
And Jordan wasn't even the MVP that year, the trophy going to Johnson instead.
"I think LeBron is an MVP candidate every year," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said last month. "It's just who he is. He only does everything. So I don't know what more you can ask from him.
"LeBron, to me, is the favorite every year," Rivers added. "The years he doesn't win it, it'll usually be because people are just tired of voting for him. Statistically, if you go all-around game, I don't know how you don't vote for him every year."
The MVP votes will be revealed Saturday. Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant was thought to be James' top competition for the MVP, after winning the NBA scoring title for a third season in a row. Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker also had seasons that generated some MVP buzz.
James' teammates also lobbied for him to be defensive player of the year, noting that probably no one else in the league routinely plays four positions on offense while sometimes being asked to guard anyone from a point guard to a center on defense. James was fourth in that balloting, with New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler the winner.
"LeBron has been unbelievable," Heat guard Dwyane Wade said before the playoffs. "He's done it at both ends, every night, offensively and defensively."
Last season's MVP, Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose, appeared in only 39 of 66 regular-season games because of a variety of injuries. His season ended in Game 1 of the Bulls' first-round playoff series loss against the Philadelphia 76ers, when Rose tore a knee ligament.
Many in the Heat organization thought James should have won the award a year ago, as well, when he dealt with constant fallout from "The Decision" to leave the Cavaliers as a free agent and sign with Miami, where he, Wade and Chris Bosh formed a "Big Three" that has been celebrated at home and reviled in just about every other NBA arena.
James has said he played more out of anger and to silence criticism than anything else last season. So this season, his mind-set changed as he tried to revert to old ways, first as a superstar-in-waiting at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, then during his seven seasons with the Cavaliers.
It apparently worked.
"I wanted to get back to who I was as a person," James said.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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