LeBron's First MVP Will Be Precursor To NBA Title

CLEVELAND - After a superlative regular season that saw his team set a franchise record for team victories, LeBron James' historic accomplishments have culminated in his being named the 2008-09 NBA Most Valuable Player.

It's what I've been saying for months.

James, 24 becomes the youngest pro basketball MVP in over thirty years after amassing all-pro statistics (28.4ppg, 7.6rpg, 7.2apg), and undergoing an eye-popping metamorphosis as a defensive stopper. He received 109 of a possible 121 first place votes and also became the first-ever Cleveland Cavaliers player to win the award. 

"Individual accolades come when team success happens," said James as he stood at a podium in the gymnasium of his alma mater St. Vincent St. Mary. "You look at those 14 guys over there, I got the award because of them. They put in the work." The scintillating star consistently thanked what he called his "intermediate family" and appeared genuinely humbled by this honor.

In addition to his phenomenal offense, his signature chase downs and shot blocking from behind transformed him into an elite defender and catapulted him to a second place finish for Defensive Player of the Year after several seasons of notoriously lackluster D.

James entered the NBA in the autumn of 2003 as a super heralded prep star from Akron, Ohio's St. Vincent St. Mary. The tough luck Cleveland Cavaliers won the rights to draft the local wunderkind and enjoyed an 18-game improvement during James' rookie season. The team made the playoffs in his third season, the NBA Finals (where they were swept by the Spurs) in his fourth season and in this, his sixth season rolled to a league best 66-16 record and top seed during the ongoing NBA playoffs. So far, they have swept the Detroit Pistons in round one.

The Cavs begin their semifinals series v.s. Atlanta tomorrow.

I have been saying all season that LeBron was the hands-down MVP. True, he had great competition from the Lakers' resident star Kobe Bryant (who finished a distant second in MVP voting after winning last season) as well as Miami guard Dwyane Wade and Orlando's Dwight Howard. But no one has been as indomitable on both offense and defense, nor been a better leader and closer for a title contender this season than James. This was his award to win from the early stages of winter onward.

Given his laser-tuned focus and surreal talent, James will lead his much improved team to the franchise's first ever NBA championship. It is an absolute certainty and as he stated in his news conference today, the reason he plays the game.

Another celebration awaits in June.