NBA: James awarded third MVP Award
Miami Heat forward LeBron James was awarded his third NBA MVP award on Saturday.
James received 85 of 121 first-place votes and 1,074 points. Oklahoma City guard and scoring champion Kevin Durant finished second with 24 first-place votes and 889 points. The rest of the top five (with first-place votes and points) include Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul (six, 385), Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (two, 352) and San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker (four, 331).
James won the award for the third time in four years. He averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.9 steals and shot 53 percent from the field in the regular season. Only Michael Jordan (1988-89) exceeded those numbers in a single season, although he did not win the MVP award that season.
James is one of eight players in league history to win at least three NBA MVP awards. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five) and Wilt Chamberlain (four) are the only players who have won the award more times than James. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone also won it three times.
James will be presented with the MVP Award on Sunday by commissioner David Stern before James' Heat begin a second-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.
"We have a bigger goal," James told reporters Saturday, according to the Miami Herald. "I want that championship. That's all that matters to me. ... It didn't take another MVP for me to want to win a championship. I'd give all three back if I could win a championship."
--New York Knicks interim coach Mike Woodson may improve his chances of keeping the job if he changes agents, SI.com reported on Saturday.
The New York Daily News first reported that the Knicks approached Woodson about a contract extension but that he would have to change agents before further talks resumed.
Woodson's agent, Joe Glass, is recovering from a pelvis injury. Woodson, according to SI, informed the Glass family that he is planning to switch to Creative Artists Agency, which represents several members of the Knicks.
Glass, 87, represented former coach Larry Brown when Brown and the Knicks ended on ugly terms in 2006.
"Hey look, Mike deserves the job I'm trying to take the high road here, but I certainly won't be asking anyone at the Garden for directions," Glass' son Keith told SI.
The Knicks lost to the Miami Heat in five games in their first round playoff series.
--Two days after his Chicago Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs by the Philadelphia 76ers, guard Derrick Rose underwent surgery on the left ACL that was torn in the first game of the series.
His brother, Reggie Rose, told reporters the surgery, performed by team Dr. Brian Cole on Saturday, "went great."
Rose was injured late in Chicago's first playoff game against the 76ers, on April 28. It put an end to a frustrating season for Rose, who missed 27 games with various injuries.
Rose had 23 points and nine assists in the Bulls' 103-91 victory in that first game, but the Bulls went on to lose four of the next five games without him, culminating in a 79-78 loss Thursday that knocked them out of the playoffs.
Rose is expected to be out 8-10 months.
