LeBron James told the world in 2020 that Black Lives Matter. It helped convince many who had never voted to finally go to the polls. He found more ways to keep improving the lives of people in his hometown.
As if that wasn’t enough, he won another NBA championship.
James’ performance on the track was spectacular again this year. He received a fourth NBA title and fourth NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy when he brought the Los Angeles Lakers back to the top of the basketball world. And after a year of brilliantness on and off the field, James was named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year winner for the fourth time on Saturday.
“I still know what I’m doing on the field and of course I give everything for the game,” James told the AP. “But now I can make more impact from the floor than on the floor. And I want to keep inspiring people with the way I play basketball. But there are many more things I can do from the ground up to help cultivate, inspire, bring together, empower people. “
The AP Award was first presented in 1931. James’ fourth win was the most equal to Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods for men. Three women have won the AP award at least four times; Babe Didrikson won six times, Serena Williams won five and Chris Evert four.
The AP Sportswoman of the Year will be announced on Sunday.
No NBA player has scored more points or had more assists in 2020 than James. The only other player in your life leading the league in points and assists in the same calendar year? Himself, in 2018.
James also became the first player to be an NBA Finals MVP in three franchises. He passed Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the all-time leaderboard, and he did it the day before Bryant died in a helicopter crash last January; The last tweet Bryant sent was a congratulatory message to James.
“He’s the best player the basketball universe has ever seen,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said of James in October. “And when you think you know, you don’t know until you’re with him every day, you train him, you watch his mind, you see his adjustments, you see the way he leads the group. You think you know. You do not know “.
James finished with 78 points in the vote from a panel of 35 AP clients and editors. Kansas City quarterback and current Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was a close second with 71 points. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton finished third with 14 points.
James , also the AP male athlete of the past decade, he also won the annual AP award in 2013, 2016 and 2018. Three-time winner Michael Jordan is the only other basketball player to have won the AP award more than once.
“He’s one of the greatest sports leaders,” said Lakers security guard Kyle Kuzma of James.
This applies both inside and outside the court.
James’s More Than A Vote organization drew more than 42,000 volunteers to polling stations for the November election, helped some regain their right to vote, and lobbied for young and black voter participation.
According to the AP VoteCast, a poll of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, black voters made up 11% of the national electorate, and 9 out of 10 of them supported President-elect Joe Biden. Compared to Hillary Clinton in 2016, Biden attracted more voters in critical areas with large black populations, such as NBA cities like Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta. That was huge.
“The tragic death of George Floyd, everyone had the chance to see it and also hear the story of Breonna Taylor, her tragic story and Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia … my people have had enough and I’ve had enough, said James. “That’s why I asked for action and with my platform I believed I could get people to participate.”
As always, he was also focused on his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
The I PROMISE school which opened in 2018 now has more than 450 students in grades three through six. When the school closed due to the pandemic, James and his team arranged for the students to have hot meals at home, including full Thanksgiving meals. This year, an affordable housing project for 50 families has started. And this month, plans were announced for House Three Thirty (a nod to the Akron area code), detailing how James will offer things like accessible financial health programs for families, job training, and a community meeting space.
“The pandemic has affected us all,” said James. Regardless of your situation, wherever you are in life, it has been difficult. And the first thing that came to my mind, besides the interruption of the season, when the pandemic hit, was “What am I going to do for my kids at the back of my school?” ”.
He is already looking to 2021. The Lakers hope to be contenders again. His remake of “Space Jam” is expected to be released this summer. And James, who turns 36 on Wednesday, has not ruled out playing for USA Basketball again at the Tokyo Olympics in the team that will be coached by Gregg Popovich.
“It’s still possible,” said James. ‘It’s not a 0% chance, I’ll say it. I like Coach Pop. “
But as 2020 drew to a close, James gave himself a moment to reflect on a year like no other.
“It’s a tribute to the people I work with, the people at my foundation, the sponsors who continue to support us and what we do and what we strive for,” said James. “It’s incredible. I can’t just sit here and say that the minute we stopped in March, I thought this was all going to happen and we would be at this point in December.”
But here it is again.