Miami Heat’s forward LeBron James (centre) holds the trophy as he stands with head coach Erik Spoelstra (left) and team president Pat Riley, after being named NBA Most Valuable Player at a ceremony in Miami, yesterday. It was the fourth time in five years that the 28-year-old James had won the game’s most prestigious individual award, elevating him among the sport’s greatest players.
NEW YORK: The NBA made it official yesterday, announcing Miami Heat superstar LeBron James was a near-unanimous choice as Most Valuable Player, earning the award for a second straight year and fourth time overall.
James’s victory in the voting had been widely reported since Friday, although when asked about it the player himself had urged reporters not to “jinx” him by jumping the gun.
He needn’t have worried.
James garnered 120 first-place votes from a possible 121 which included a 120-member media panel and a fan poll conducted on NBA.com that counted for one vote.
“It is probably a writer out of New York that didn’t give me the vote,” James said. “I know the history between the Heat and the Knicks so I get it.”
James received a total of 1,207 points in the balloting, with Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant a distant second with 765 points and the New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony third with 475 points and one first-place vote.
No player has ever been a unanimous winner. James matched Shaquille O’Neal -- as a Los Angeles Laker in 2001 -- in receiving all but one first-place vote.
“He deserves it,” teammate Ray Allen said. “What he’s done for this team, we’ve come to expect so many things. He set the bar so high, but what he does is miraculous.”
James joins legends Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Russell as MVP award winners at least four times in their careers.
“It is very humbling. I am just trying to leave my mark and impact,” James said.AFP
