"King James" joins all-time greats

WASHINGTON, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Lebron James is establishing his place among the all-time greats with his second straight NBA Finals trophy and a second Finals MVP title.

"King James" had a game-high 37 points and 12 rebounds when leading the Miami Heat to a dramatic 95-88 Game 7 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night.

He was awarded the Finals Most Valuable Player, becoming only the ninth player to win multiple NBA Finals MVP awards, joining Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Larry Bird, Shaquille O'Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tim Duncan and Willis Reed.

The championship capped James' 10th season when he bagged his fourth regular season MVP award in five seasons and averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.0 blocked shots a game in 76 appearances.

He also finished second in NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting to Spanish big man Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Arguably the best player in current NBA, James was constantly compared to legendary Michael Jordan but had to deal with the daily criticism that Michael Jordan never had.

The latest round of criticism came with defending champion Heat's loss as people questioned James why he only switched to attacking mode in the fourth quarter.

At Thursday's awarding ceremony, James answered his critics.

"I work on my game a lot, through the whole season I put a lot of work to it," said James at the awarding ceremony.

"For me I can't worry about whatever everybody said about me. I am LeBron James from Akron, Ohio -- from the inner city. I was not even supposed to be here."

"I am blessed," said James, born to a 16-year-old single mother, and going through poverty in his childhood.

James' feat won over a lot of praise from Chinese basketball fans and experts.

"I am not a James' fan but I salute him," wrote the net user with ID "1234 go go go".

A basketball commentator said James proved his worth.

"When he was most needed, he fought like a man, with courage and wisdom," said Su Qun.

China's national TV commentator Yu Jia exclaimed that a new era started.

"Ten years ago when Duncan became the champion, James just landed on NBA. Now James beat Duncan, a new era began!" he said.

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