As a result of his outstanding performance in Sunday night’s All-Star Game, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James was presented with this season’s All-Star Game MVP award, marking the third time he’s earned the distinguished title. Only one other player in NBA history can boast such a feat: “His Airness,” Michael Jordan.
In his 31 minutes of playing time, James, now 33 years of age and in his 15th season of NBA service, racked up 29 points on 12-17 shooting from the field (4-8 from beyond the arc), 10 rebounds, eight assists, and one steal in a 148-145 victory over #TeamStephen (Stephen Curry).
Jordan, who has five regular season MVP awards and six Finals MVP’s to his credit, still holds a slight edge over James in terms of overall MVP nods.
All Star Game MVP
Jordan: 1988, 1996, 1998
LeBron: 2006, 2008, 2018
Regular Season MVP
Jordan: 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998
LeBron: 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013
Finals MVP
Jordan: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998
LeBron: 2012, 2013, 2016
James and Jordan will go down as two of the greatest to have ever dribbled a basketball, but it’s their longevity that should garner more praise. In fact, they are the only two players to win an All-Star MVP award ten years removed from their first.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
As most hoops fans know, this season’s All-Star Game selection process was a bit different than in years past. Gone are the days of East vs. West. Enter a new era of team captains picking their respective sides. The new format seems to have paid off, as Sunday night’s game was competitive, and seemed to be received well by most fans.
“It had a real game feel to it,” James said during his All-Star MVP acceptance speech. “And it starts with us (the players), all of these guys right here. These guys came in with the right mindset this weekend. We wanted to give our beautiful fans and our beautiful game — played in over 200 countries around the world — a show. We said we wanted to do it, and we came out and we did that. We’ve got the best league in the world, and we want to continue to do that every single day.”