LeBron James spent two days trying to sort out the right words. An assistant jotted some ideas on notecards, which were ignored. So when the moment came to deliver his MVP acceptance speech, James spoke emotionally about family, charity, history and what the Miami Heat organization means to him. And he finished with a flourish.

"Heat nation, we have a bigger goal," James said. "This is very overwhelming to me as an individual award. But this is not the award I want, ultimately. I want that championship. That's all that matters to me."

James accepted his third NBA most valuable player award on Saturday, making him the eighth player in league history to win that many. The others - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Moses Malone - all have won NBA titles.

On Sunday, James resumes that quest.

"He's going to get his," Heat president Pat Riley said. "He will get his championship. And there might be a lot more there, too."

Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant was runner-up in voting, followed by the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, and San Antonio's Tony Parker.

James lauded the other top candidates for the MVP, and praised his teammates and those around him even more.

"This is a team game and I wouldn't be receiving what I've received in the past and now in the present without my teammates and without my family and friends who've helped me to this point," James said. "Even though it's an individual award, I always go back to my teammates. I always go back to my friends and my family. No one can do it alone."

Associated Press in Miami

(China Daily 05/14/2012 page24)