CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Winning the NBA's Most Valuable Player trophy for the second year in a row had been a humbling experience, the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James said Saturday.
The NBA has not officially announced James as the recipient but he confirmed at a pre-game session with reporters that he would receive the award in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, on Sunday.
"It's another humbling experience for myself," James said before the Cavaliers played the Boston Celtics in an Eastern Conference semi-final game.
"It's really hard to kind of grasp, honestly. You put in a lot of hard work as an individual, you get an opportunity to showcase your talent on the floor every night and to do it with team mates that you love in a city that you love, it's great."
James becomes the 10th NBA player to win the honor in back-to-back seasons, joining Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan and Steve Nash. Russell, Chamberlain and Bird won it in three consecutive years.
"To be in that class ... with guys who won it back to back or won MVPs period, and to be in those books is great," James said.
In his seventh NBA season, the 25-year-old Cavaliers forward averaged 29.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists this season.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina. Editing by Ian Ransom)
