Miami’s James captures third MVP in four seasons

Associated Press

MIAMI

LeBron James spent two days trying to figure out the right words. An assistant jotted some ideas on notecards, which were ignored. So when the moment came to deliver his MVP acceptance speech, James spoke emotionally about family, charity, history and what the Miami Heat organization means to him.

And he finished with a flourish.

“Heat nation, we have a bigger goal,” James said. “This is very overwhelming to me as an individual award. But this is not the award I want, ultimately. I want that championship. That’s all that matters to me.”

James accepted his third NBA MVP award Saturday, making him the eighth player in league history to win that many. The others — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone — all have won NBA titles.

Today, James resumes that quest.

“He’s going to get his,” Heat President Pat Riley said. “He will get his championship. And there might be a lot more there, too.”

James received 85 of a possible 121 first-place votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league, with fans on NBA.com combining for one vote.

He earned 1,074 points, topping Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (889 points, 24 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers’ Chris Paul (385, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (352, two first-place votes), and San Antonio’s Tony Parker (331, four first-place votes).

James lauded the other top candidates for the MVP, and lauded his teammates and those around him even more.

“This is a team game and I wouldn’t be receiving what I’ve received in the past and now in the present without my teammates and without my family and friends who’ve helped me to this point,” James said away from the stage.