LBJ 4 MVP

Congratulations to Mr. LeBron James for winning his 4th NBA Most Valuable Player Award for the 2012-2013 NBA Season. LeBron has now joined Elite Company, making him the 5th Player in NBA History to win at least four or more MVP Awards:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (6)
Michael Jordan (5)
Bill Russell (5)
Wilt Chamberlain (4)
LeBron James (4)

This is certainly a prestigious class to be a part of, which adds even greater value to LeBron's already impressive legacy. As always, LeBron has been playing like a man among boys this season. From the start, I pretty much knew that LeBron was the ultimate lock for the Award. No one else was even within striking distance of the award. James won 120 out of the 121 votes. He would have been the unanimous MVP if it had not been for scoring leader Carmelo Anthony winning that 1 vote. That is how lopsided the voting was. Not even KD received a vote, when he was second place last season. Shaq went through the same thing when he won the MVP in 2000, when Iverson had the 1 vote that kept him from being the unanimous winner. LeBron had another fantastic day in the office this season, as he averaged 26.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 7.3 apg, 1.7 spg, with an incredible career-high field goal percentage of 56%. LeBron also shot a career-high 40% from the 3-point line, while shooting 75% from the free throw line. Once again, LeBron led the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (PER) for the sixth straight time in his career with a PER of 31.6. LeBron also led the league in Win Shares for the fifth season in a row (19.3), along with a career-high .322 Win Shares/Per 48 Minutes. James also shot a career-high in True Shooting Percentage, shooting 64%. Those are true examples of value, for both the team and the league. This season, LeBron James also became the "youngest" player in NBA History to reach 20,000 career total points. As I have said before, he is only considered the "fastest" because of age, but in terms of career, he is not. Either way, it was very impressive. LeBron was also named "NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month" for every month, except April. (November-March) This season, LeBron also went on a monstrous streak of games where he scored at least 30 or more points on 60% shooting or higher from the field. Even more recently, LeBron led the charge as the Miami Heat went on a 27-game winning streak, while finishing the season 66-16. With new additions such as Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, and Chris "Birdman" Anderson, LeBron found new players whose roles could be further enhanced by playing with him. This season, we have continued to see James be the general and march his team to success. Once again, we have seen LBJ continue to dominate on both ends of the court. LeBron has also earned the respect, and admiration from All-Time Greats such as Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Karl Malone as well as Bob Pettit to name a few. They expressed their appreciation of James during a roundtable interview with USA Today Sports. Kareem admires LeBron's desire to be the best. Bob Pettit sees his own commitment to strength and conditioning in LeBron's game. Moses Malone appreciates the path that he and James both took to NBA success coming straight out of High School, winning multiple MVP Awards and each a Finals MVP. Bill Russell has even said that he thinks of LeBron James the same way that he used to think about Wilt Chamberlain. Not to speak for anyone, but I am sure that Wilt would also have a certain admiration for LeBron James and everything that he brings to the table. Like Wilt, LeBron is head and shoulders above the rest, as his amazing individual production gives balance to his team success. Although Wilt only led his teams to 2 championships, he had 4 MVP's and multiple records to further solidify his legacy in other areas. James is carving his place in History even more. He continues to add more dimensions to his game. With all fairness to today's NBA, the competition looks more like St. Vincent St. Mary than the NBA that we have been so used to for years. This is not a swipe at LeBron, but to the rule changes. LeBron's versatility continues to reach new levels. However, James' season has orchestrated yet another incredible season to further etch his career to legend status.