Sport's Illustrated' Sportsman of the Year: LeBron James!

[Big Zo]

pathetic he beat all of these fantastic sports figures yet he's given an award for winning a championship and MVP in which they didn't even play a full season

With the schedule as condensed as it was, he should have received TWO MVP's, and TWO rings.

[Im_in_Mia_bish]

What the hell does that have to do with anything? Every single NBA player was under the same 66-game restriction? How does that diminish in any way what Lebron or the Heat accomplished?

lol he probably thinks the post season format is condensed too lol

[Max.This]

What the hell does that have to do with anything? Every single NBA player was under the same 66-game restriction? How does that diminish in any way what Lebron or the Heat accomplished?

i dont think that was his point. I think its fair to say there were other athletes that accomplished things that maybe not just the U.S gave a **** about. People all over the world watch the olympics. Athletes that have trained day in and day out, some even without the technology that NBA players work with. It shouldn't be given to an athlete that took a whole team to get the championship. Bolt and some of the other nominees did it by themselves

[torocan]

whereas Lebron was at a point where most people almost expected him to fail.

Say what? Even before he won the championship he was widely considered to be the best player in the entire NBA. And most everyone expected he would win a championship Eventually, just nobody knew for sure what year that would be.

That's FAR from expecting him to fail.

And while Lebron is arguably the best player of his generation, Bolt is the best in his sport of ALL TIME. He's been the best in the World every year for the last 7 years.

Lebron doesn't even make it into the top 5 discussion of all time NBA players at this point.

Anyway, I'm not saying that LeBron shouldn't be in the discussion, just that when you are the most dominant of ALL TIME in a sport as well at This year, you should go straight to the top of the list, especially if you only get to really showcase it on the big stage every 4 years.

That's why my personal vote goes to Bolt or Phelps. This was most likely the LAST time we'll see them, and that Should count for something when all things are considered.

Unlike Bolt and Phelps, Lebron has a long career ahead of him to showcase his talents and Prove that he's one of the best players of All Time.

The difference is, Bolt and Phelps have Already proven they are the most dominant athletes in their respective sports in History, and did so this year in the most convincing of fashions.

That's not a disrespect to Lebron. Even Lebron in his interview said that he didn't feel he had done enough to be worth of that honor. Maybe he was just sounding good for the cameras, but maybe he was acknowledging that athletes like Bolt and Phelps aren't once in a generation or even once in a lifetime athletes, they're the best that the Human Race has ever seen.

MVP or not, Championship or not, seeing the Best in Human History at a particular sport is something that we'll likely never see again in our lifetimes.

[mightybosstone]

i dont think that was his point. I think its fair to say there were other athletes that accomplished things that maybe not just the U.S gave a **** about. People all over the world watch the olympics. Athletes that have trained day in and day out, some even without the technology that NBA players work with. It shouldn't be given to an athlete that took a whole team to get the championship. Bolt and some of the other nominees did it by themselves

But based on this logic, then an Olympian or individual athlete should always win over a team athlete. And I don't think that's fair. For one, between the Summer and Winter games, the Olympics come around once every two years. Are we just going to ignore all other sporting events every other year for the sake of this award? Secondly, often an athlete's accomplishments in a team sport are more impressive than athletes in an individual sport. For example, would you say that the greatest tennis player or golfer's season was more impressive than Lebron's or Cabrera's? I certainly wouldn't.

And finally, this is an ESPN award. While the Olympics do dominate ESPN coverage for a month or two out of the year, baseball, basketball and football dominated a good 80 percent of the rest of it. Those are the three major sports and it often takes an unbelievable performance from an individual athlete to dominate sports coverage over the three major sports in this country. You could argue that Bolt's performance was as big a Lebron's or maybe even Douglas' (who also competed in a team sport, btw). But because the NBA is a year-round sport that dominates media coverage for a huge portion of every year, Lebron deserves to win that award.

[Hawkeye15]

Say what? Even before he won the championship he was widely considered to be the best player in the entire NBA. And most everyone expected he would win a championship Eventually, just nobody knew for sure what year that would be.

That's FAR from expecting him to fail.

And while Lebron is arguably the best player of his generation, Bolt is the best in his sport of ALL TIME. He's been the best in the World every year for the last 7 years.

Lebron doesn't even make it into the top 5 discussion of all time NBA players at this point.

Anyway, I'm not saying that LeBron shouldn't be in the discussion, just that when you are the most dominant of ALL TIME in a sport as well at This year, you should go straight to the top of the list, especially if you only get to really showcase it on the big stage every 4 years.

That's why my personal vote goes to Bolt or Phelps. This was most likely the LAST time we'll see them, and that Should count for something when all things are considered.

Unlike Bolt and Phelps, Lebron has a long career ahead of him to showcase his talents and Prove that he's one of the best players of All Time.

The difference is, Bolt and Phelps have Already proven they are the most dominant athletes in their respective sports in History, and did so this year in the most convincing of fashions.

That's not a disrespect to Lebron. Even Lebron in his interview said that he didn't feel he had done enough to be worth of that honor. Maybe he was just sounding good for the cameras, but maybe he was acknowledging that athletes like Bolt and Phelps aren't once in a generation or even once in a lifetime athletes, they're the best that the Human Race has ever seen.

MVP or not, Championship or not, seeing the Best in Human History at a particular sport is something that we'll likely never see again in our lifetimes.

What makes a bigger story, or, what do people care about more? LeBron has been followed like a puppy dog for years, and the previous 2 scrutinized more than any athlete I can recall. Bolt took up 3 weeks of our lives (1 week really), while LeBron has BEEN the story for 3 years now. Him finally breaking through, meeting and exceeding all the expectations, is a huge reason he won this award.

[Hawkeye15]

I agree with Hawkeye. Bolt is the greatest sprinter ever, but he doesn't have to deal with half of the pressure or media attention that Lebron does. It's a sport that gets worldwide attention once every four years and then no one cares again for the next three. Lebron was spectacular all season long and had one of the greatest redemption seasons of any professional athlete in the history of any sport. Also, Bolt's dominance was expected, whereas Lebron was at a point where most people almost expected him to fail.

exactly. My last post sums it up. We care about Bolt, and that sport for a couple of weeks, every 4 years. LeBron has been scrutinized and criticized like no other athlete. The story of him breaking through and shutting up all the critics is far more compelling.

[KB-Pau-DH2012]

Very well deserved for LeBron. On and off the court, the guy is great, a role model, best player in the league, and just a pleasure to watch. The player and person he's become is something to marvel at, and the league is definitely in good hands for yrs to come when these old generation of players like KG, Tim, Kobe etc. all retire.

[ManRamForPrez24]

What LeBron did this year was more rare than what Bolt did

Maybe if Bolt re-set the world record, or something. Not trying to discredit his accomplishments, but LeBron had a year unlike any NBA player ever has, besides you-know-who.

[Gram]

Congrats LeGram.

[Hawkeye15]

Very well deserved for LeBron. On and off the court, the guy is great, a role model, best player in the league, and just a pleasure to watch. The player and person he's become is something to marvel at, and the league is definitely in good hands for yrs to come when these old generation of players like KG, Tim, Kobe etc. all retire.

to me, that is one of the most interesting parts of watching the game. Whose got next?

[mightybosstone]

Say what? Even before he won the championship he was widely considered to be the best player in the entire NBA. And most everyone expected he would win a championship Eventually, just nobody knew for sure what year that would be. That's FAR from expecting him to fail.

I'm trying to say that the dude had an insane amount of pressure on him to win this season and every reason in the world to crumble under the pressure. Look at the Pacers series, the Boston series and the Heat and Thunder after game one. He could have easily lost any three of those series, but instead he had one of the greatest postseasons in NBA history and won it all.

And while Lebron is arguably the best player of his generation, Bolt is the best in his sport of ALL TIME. He's been the best in the World every year for the last 7 years. Lebron doesn't even make it into the top 5 discussion of all time NBA players at this point.

Not to diminish Bolt, but his sport is also something that no one cares about aside from one event four times a year. Our society cares far more about professional basketball than it does the world of sprinting. Also, I would argue that Lebron is on pace to become the second greatest players OF ALL TIME.

That's why my personal vote goes to Bolt or Phelps. This was most likely the LAST time we'll see them, and that Should count for something when all things are considered.

I love Phelps, but hasn't he won the award before? Also, if you were going to give it to an Olympian, it should be Bolt, who completely dominated his events.

Unlike Bolt and Phelps, Lebron has a long career ahead of him to showcase his talents and Prove that he's one of the best players of All Time.

While I get what you're trying to say here, I think you're turning this award into a lifetime achievement award. But that's not the case. It's awarded to the greatest individual achievement of that year. Lebron won an NBA championship, an Olympic gold medal, an MVP and a Finals MVP in the same year. I don't know how anyone could top that, IMO.

MVP or not, Championship or not, seeing the Best in Human History at a particular sport is something that we'll likely never see again in our lifetimes.

I'm going to agree to disagree. Sprinting and swimming are two sports that are CONSTANTLY improving because of the advances in technology, training and modern medicine. Times from 100 years ago would seem like complete jokes to athletes today. In 20 years, we could very well be talking about different Olympic athletes in the same way we talk about Phelps and Bolt. And they'll be like the Carl Lewis of our generation, an Olympic athlete we always hear about being the greatest, but whose numbers don't stand up to current athletes.

And because of that very reason, I think those sports are hard to give an award like this to.

[torocan]

Maybe if Bolt re-set the world record, or something. Not trying to discredit his accomplishments, but LeBron had a year unlike any NBA player ever has, besides you-know-who.

Bolt set the Olympic record in the 100M, and the World Record in the 400M, and he owns the World Record in all 3.

This was all in London.

[BklynKnicks3]

reward a coward for takin a shortcut nice might as well every1 else does

[mightybosstone]

reward a coward for takin a shortcut nice might as well every1 else does

Is Melo also a coward for *****ing until he got traded from Denver? Is Amare also a coward for signing with New York instead of sticking with Phoenix? I'm guessing you wouldn't agree with either of those points. If you're going to use idiotic, insane logic, at least be consistent with it.