Miami Heat's LeBron James was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year 2012.
James is the sixth basketball player to win the award and second since his Heat teammate Dwyane Wade received it in 2006.
The year 2012 has been an outstanding one for the 27-year-old James, who won his first NBA championship, third league Most Valuable Player award, along with being named the NBA Finals MVP, while also going onto win the gold medal at the London Olympics.
Time Inc. Sports Group editor Paul Fichtenbaum underlined James's remarkable contribution to basketball by saying when Miami needed him most he came up trumps.
"LeBron kind of made it easy on us," Fichtenbaum said. "In a year that had really high standards, he just stood taller than everybody else."
As per Fichtenbaum, James' charitable work to help schoolchildren in his native Akron, Ohio, also went in his favor while deciding the winner of the award.
"I do think there has been some sort of closure -- maybe not entirely in Cleveland, but across the nation," Fichtenbaum said. "LeBron's jerseys are now the No. 1-selling jerseys. I think there's a reason for that. I think people really appreciate him for everything he can do."
James was criticized two years back, when he announced his decision to sign for Miami live on television after his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers expired.
"I remember just like yesterday when I signed here and basically, like the roof caved in," the Associated Press quoted James as saying. "To see that I and my team and everyone around me was able to patch that roof up, to come to this point, to come to this point and receive such a prestigious award, it's huge.
"Did I think an award like this was possible two years ago? No, I did not. I thought I would be helping a lot of kids and raise $3 million by going on TV and saying, 'Hey, I want to play for the Miami Heat.' But it affected far more people than I imagined," James added in an interview.
Some other great sportsmen, who have won Sports Illustrated's "Sportsman of the Year" award in the past, are: Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicklaus, Wayne Gretzky, Arthur Ashe, Tom Brady, Derek Jeter, Michael Phelps, Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods.
British athlete Roger Bannister, who finished a mile in less than four minutes for the first time in history, was the first sportsman to get this prestigious award.
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