NBA Finals: Lakers’ LeBron James Makes History With 4th Finals MVP Award

LeBron James is once again an NBA champion as he led the Los Angeles Lakers to a dominant victory against the Miami Heat on Sunday. The four-time regular season MVP is now also a four-time Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP.

This is the first time in league history that a player has won Finals MVP with three different teams, CBS Sports reported. James was awarded his first two trophies with the Heat in their 2012-2013 run before winning it again with Cleveland in 2016.

The only other players who have won the award multiple times with two separate teams are Kawhi Leonard and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Leonard accomplished this feat with the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, while Abdul-Jabbar won with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Lakers.

With a final score of 106-93, the Lakers eliminated Miami in a tough six-game series. James defeated the Heat with 28 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and was named the unanimous MVP care of an 11-0 vote. Across the series, James averaged a near triple-double as he put up 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists.

Several legends reached out to congratulate James over the accomplishment, including Russell himself.

“Sorry I couldn’t be in the bubble, but I want to say congratulations to LeBron James for winning the Bill Russell award,” Russell said.

Lakers icon Magic Johnson also took to social media to applaud James for getting the job done for Los Angeles.

It took an all-around effort for the Lakers to topple the Heat as fellow All-Star Anthony Davis was also an early contender for the MVP award. The big man was a consistent force against the Heat as he averaged 33 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 63.4% from the field.

Despite Davis’ stellar performance, James still stood out as he is currently leading the NBA in most triple-doubles in Finals history with 11.

This Lakers title is their first since 2010 when Kobe Bryant led their squad against rivals Boston Celtics in Game 7. Overall, this is the 17th championship in Lakers franchise history, tying them with the Celtics for most in the NBA.