LeBron James has been named the AP top male athlete of the decade. The honor chronicles his moves from Cleveland to Miami, back to Cleveland and eventually to Los Angeles along with Championship rings, MVPs, games played, off the court achievements and more.
James was the runaway winner of the honor. The distant runner up was Tom Brady of the New England Patriots.
“You add another 10 years of learning and adversity, pitfalls, good, great, bad, and any smart person who wants to grow will learn from all those experiences,” James told the AP. “A decade ago, I just turned 25. I’m about to be 35, and I’m just in a better [place] in my life and have a better understanding of what I want to get out of life.”
According to ESPN previous winners of the award include Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky and Arnold Palmer. On Saturday, Serena Williams was named the AP Female Athlete of the Decade.
During the decade, James was named Athlete of the Year three times. The only other basketball players to receive the honor in the 2000s at all were Kawhi Leonard this year and Stephen Curry in 2015.
