Miami's LeBron James earns fourth career NBA MVP award

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NEW YORK, May 5 (UPI) -- Miami Heat forward LeBron James garnered his fourth career NBA Most Valuable Player award Sunday in a near-unanimous vote.

James, who became the fifth player in league history to claim at least four MVP awards, polled 120 of the 121 first-place votes cast for a total of 1,207 points.

The 28-year-old finished far ahead of Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, who tallied 93 second-place votes for a total of 765 points.

New York's Carmelo Anthony came in third with 732 points, collecting the one first-place vote that didn't go to James.

The Miami star joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six MVPs) Michael Jordan, Bill Russell (five apiece) and Wilt Chamberlain (four) as the only players with at least four MVPs.

James led the defending NBA champion Heat to a franchise-record 66 regular season victories in 2012-13, averaging 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game.