CLEVELAND -- Unstoppable at both ends of the floor this season, LeBron James is the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
James, who led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a team-record 66 regular-season wins and the top overall seed in the playoffs, will receive the award Monday, a person with knowledge of the choice told The Associated Press. James chose Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, his alma mater, for the presentation, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made.
The Cavaliers announced a "major" news conference for 4 p.m. at the school, but did not give the reason.
James is the first Cavaliers player to win the award. He averaged 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists this season, his sixth as a pro. He also finished second in voting for defensive player of the year, making him perhaps the league's most dominant two-way player since Michael Jordan.
At 24 years, 106 days on the final day of the regular season, James is the youngest player to win the award since Moses Malone (24 years, 16 days) in 1978-79. Wes Unseld was 23 when he won it in 1968-69.
James vied all season for MVP honors with the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Miami's Dwyane Wade. The three played on the U.S. gold medalist Olympic team last summer and seemed to upstage each other nightly this season.
Focused right from the start, the 6-foot-8, 250-pound James sharpened his already formidable skills this season.
He started a career-high 81 games and set personal bests in field-goal (49) and free-throw (79) percentages. James became the second player to post five straight seasons of at least 27 points, six rebounds and six assists. The other is Oscar Robertson, whose extraordinarily versatile game is the one James' is most often compared.
James nearly averaged a triple-double - 32 points, 11.3 rebounds and 7.5 assists - as the top-seeded Cavaliers breezed through the first round of the playoffs, sweeping the Detroit Pistons in four games. Cleveland will host the Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 on Tuesday.
It's no surprise James would select his high school for the ceremony. It's where he won three state basketball championships and where he burst onto the national scene, becoming a Sports Illustrated cover subject at just 17 years old. He announced plans to skip college in the Fighting Irish's quaint gym and recently filmed a "60 Minutes" interview there.
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AP Source: LeBron James Honored As NBA MVP
Unstoppable at both ends of the floor this season, LeBron James is the NBA's Most Valuable Player.
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Published: May 04, 2009
Published: May 04, 2009
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