Surrounded by his team and coach Lebron James accepted his third MVP award but admitted this wasn’t the award he wanted. Â We all know what he’s vying for, that championship ring. Â His own teammate Dwyane Wade took a little jab at the “King”. Â Read more after the jump.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra congratulated LeBron James, and told a story about James arriving to work first each day, before ending with the idea that more work was coming.  Dwyane Wade congratulated his teammate and said the day was well-deserved. He then added through a soft smile how he wouldn’t trade his 2006 NBA Finals’ Most Valuable Player award for this regular-season MVP.
Say what you want about LeBron, as everyone always does, but he understood above anyone else how this was a defining celebration without being the definitive one.
He discussed being one of just eight players to win three MVP awards. He talked of the odds of making it here from the empty streets of Akron. He called his teammates to the stage to share his award in a nice touch.
But when the question came of the Great White Whale still being out there, as everyone knew the question would, as everyone understood it must, LeBron pointed over at the award and put the day in context.
“This is not the award I want,” he said. “I want that championship. That’s automatic.”
He was not defensive as he said it. He was not angry. He was not animated. The tone of his voice was the same as you’d have while saying water was wet or sugar was sweet or some other long-accepted principle.
Of course he wants a championship — needs one, really, to confirm his place with the greats, especially after last June. But it’s interesting how so many people treat this as some sort of character defect, this rough climb to the top, instead of a common road to greatness.
In this manner, they’ll even use this MVP award against him if the Heat doesn’t win this spring. He averaged 27.1 points. 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists. He shot a career-high 53.1 percent. He led the league with a plus-474 points when on the court.
This doesn’t mean LeBron wins a ring this spring. It does mean you need a new sport if you didn’t enjoy watching him play basketball the past several months.
The real common denominator among the seven players who have won the MVP three times is they’ve won multiple titles, too. Few fans, for instance, know Michael Jordan won five MVP awards (I just looked it up). But most know he won six rings.
