NEW YORK -- LeBron James of the Miami Heat is the winner of the Maurice Podoloff Trophy as the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award, the NBA announced today. James earns the honor for the third time in four seasons and becomes the first player since Michael Jordan to win at least three MVPs.
James totaled 1,074 points, including 85 first-place votes, from a panel of
121 voters that consisted of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada as well as an NBA.com MVP fan vote. For the third consecutive season, the NBA and Kia Motors America gave fans the opportunity to submit their votes by ranking their top five choices through a dedicated Web page on NBA.com. The fan vote counted as one vote and was compiled with the 120 media votes to determine the winner. Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five for third, three for fourth and one for each fifth-place vote received.
Rounding out the top five in voting are Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (889 points, 24 first-place votes), the Los Angeles Clippers' Chris Paul (385, six first-place votes), the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant (352, two first-place votes), and San Antonio's Tony Parker (331, four first-place votes).
James led the Heat to a 46-20 mark and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Despite averaging a career-low 37.5 minutes, the eight-time All-Star led the NBA in plus-minus score differential (+7.6) and ranked third in scoring (27.1 ppg), while pacing the Heat in assists (6.2
apg) and tying for the team lead in rebounds (7.9 rpg). In addition, James established career bests in field goal percentage (.531) and three-point field goal percentage (.362).
This season, James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month twice (January and February), and he captured Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors six times, extending his NBA record for the most Player of the Week awards to 37. James has scored double-figure points in 419 consecutive career games, the seventh-longest streak in NBA history, behind Michael Jordan (866), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (streaks of 787 and 508), Karl Malone (575), Moses Malone (526), and Oscar Robertson (428).
The NBA MVP trophy is named in honor of the late Maurice Podoloff, the first commissioner of the NBA who served from 1946 until his retirement in 1963.
As part of its support of the Most Valuable Player Award, Kia Motors America will donate a new Kia Sorento CUV to Akron Public School After School Program benefiting the Wheels for Education Program. Kia Motors will present a brand new Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five
2011-12 year-end award winners as part of the "The Kia NBA Performance Awards." Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 21 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA's prestigious year-end honors began with the 2007-2008 season.
The 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award is part of a series of on-court performance awards called "The Kia NBA Performance Awards." The series, currently in its fifth season, is a significant part of the multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors America and the NBA, and also includes the Most Improved Player, Defensive Player, Sixth Man awards, and this year for the first time, Rookie of the Year. It also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month which are awarded during the regular season. For more information on the "The Kia NBA Performance Awards" visit www.NBA.com/performanceawards.
Attached are the voting results for the 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.
| 2011-12 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award Results |
| Player, Team |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
Total Points |
| LeBron James, Miami |
85 |
25 |
9 |
1 |
1 |
1074 |
| Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City |
24 |
83 |
13 |
1 |
0 |
889 |
| Chris Paul, L.A. Clippers |
6 |
5 |
32 |
35 |
25 |
385 |
| Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers |
2 |
5 |
30 |
39 |
30 |
352 |
| Tony Parker, San Antonio |
4 |
3 |
31 |
31 |
22 |
331 |
| Kevin Love, Minnesota |
0 |
0 |
4 |
6 |
20 |
58 |
| Dwight Howard, Orlando |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
13 |
| Rajon Rondo, Boston |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
6 |
12 |
| Steve Nash, Phoenix |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
| Derrick Rose, Chicago |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
| Dwyane Wade, Miami |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
| Russell Westbrook, OKC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Tim Duncan, San Antonio |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
| Joe Johnson, Atlanta |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 | |