MIAMI — The awards keep coming for LeBron James.
The Miami Heat star on Wednesday was named USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year for 2012 and was honored by the NBA as Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December. James has won both Player of the Month awards this season as well as having been honored three times for Player of the Week.
James won the USA Basketball award for joining Michael Jordan (1992) as the only players to win an NBA title, Olympic gold medal and regular-season and Finals MVP trophies in the same season.
“It’s an honor that I have been named the 2012 USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year,” James said in a statement. “It’s always an honor to represent my country. I never do it to be recognized or to receive an award, I do it because I love my country and the game of basketball. It is an honor to be recognized with this award, it’s humbling.”
En route to winning his latest Player of the Month award, James in December averaged 27.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting 55.5 percent from the field, including 40.0 percent from 3-point range.
Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers was named NBA Western Conference Player of the Month for December.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson
