It was no secret this season that Miami Heat's LeBron James would be named Most Valuable Player for the fourth time, as league sources have confirmed, but now he'll join a very rare group.
James will join Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlian who all have a least four MVP awards.
According to ESPN, the Heat are scheduling an awards ceremony for Sunday, and James will be presented the MVP trophy by NBA commissioner David Stern at American Airlines Arena at the start of their second-round series next week in South Beach.
"He's earned it," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of James after Friday's practice. "He's having an even more historic season than he's had the last two years. Most people probably didn't think he could go to a higher level after last season, yet he reinvented himself to show that he could. Our pinch-ourselves moment was when we signed him. But since we've had him, we don't take him for granted."
James has always marveled at the idea of being honored and mentioned alongside Jordan, Chamberlian, Jabbar and Russell in MVP recognition.
"Anytime I'm mentioned with the greatest players to play the game it's a wow factor," James said of comparisons to other four-time MVPs. "I grew up and studied those guys, watched those guys. A few of them were my inspiration."
James averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals and one block in 76 games during 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 have played in at least 70 games this season.
At 28-years-old he becomes the youngest in NBA history to hoist his fourth trophy, although Jabbar won five by the age of 30.
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