Miami Heat's LeBron James holds the Bill Russell MVP trophy as teammate Dwyane Wade (R) holds the Larry O'Brian Championship trophy after their team defeated the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of their NBA Finals basketball playoff in Miami, Florida, June 20, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

LeBron James was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2013 NBA Finals on Thursday night, earning his second straight Finals MVP trophy after his Miami Heat won their second straight NBA championship by beating the San Antonio Spurs, 95-88, in Game 7 to earn a 4-3 series win in one of the most thrilling NBA Finals we've seen in quite some time.

James was sensational in Game 7, leading all scorers with 37 points on 12 for 23 shooting, grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds, dishing four assists and snagging two steals in 45 brilliant minutes. He averaged 25.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and seven assists per game in the series, shooting 44.7 percent from the floor, 35.3 percent from 3-point range and 79.5 percent from the foul line.

When James accepted the Bill Russell Trophy awarded to the Finals' Most Valuable Player after the Heat's 2011-12 championship win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, he said it was "about damn time" he'd won an NBA title and series MVP award in his third trip to the title round. This time around, he was a bit more circumspect, opening his remarks by giving credit to the Spurs as a first-class organization and a team that had given his Heat its toughest challenge since James joined Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in South Beach in the summer of 2010.

James did the lion's share of his Game 7 damage with his jump shot, a tool he'd worked tirelessly to improve but had seemed to abandon him as San Antonio defenders repeatedly sagged off him and packed the paint to cut off driving lanes to the basket. Early in the series, those midrange jumpers (14 for 38 through six games) and 3-point looks (7 for 24) weren't falling for James. But in Game 7, when he needed them most, his stroke was true, going 9 for 20 outside the paint, including 5 for 10 from long distance, to give the Heat a needed deep threat on a night where Ray Allen, Mike Miller and Mario Chalmers combined to shoot 1 for 13 from 3-point range.

LeBron leads Heat to second straight title