LeBron Snares Third NBA Most Valuable Player Trophy
2012 NBA Playoffs

Miami, FL

LeBron James is King once again, winning the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award for the third time in the last four years.

The Miami Heat superstar became the eighth player in the league's history to win the award three times, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone.

Only Abdul-Jabbar (6), Jordan (5), Russell (5) and Chamberlain (4) have more MVP trophies than James, who also won the award in 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Commissioner David Stern will present the Mauricio Podoloff trophy to James again before Miami squares off with Indiana in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday.

Winning the MVP trophy named after first commissioner of the NBA was overwhelming but James said he and the Heat nation have a bigger goal -- to bring the championship trophy once again to Miami.

"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 said.

"I'd give all three of them back for an NBA championship," he added. "It's all I care about. It's all I know."

James averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists in the regular season. He was only the fourth player with those stat lines in at least two season, joining Oscar Robertson (five times), John Havlicek (twice) and Bird (twice).

James received 85 of a possible 121 first-place votes from panel of sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the league and collective fan vote on NBA.com, finishing with 1,074 points.

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

Chicago Bulls guard Rose placed 10th in the voting with just five points. He was hobbled with injuries in the regular season and had a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in Game 1 of their playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Fans love to root against LeBron James, except in Miami of course. He's everyone's favorite sports villain and the scapegoat when the Miami Heat fall short of a NBA championship. But Len Berman wonders if all that "hate" is fair?