New York – Los Angeles Lakers and NBA star LeBron James was named Time magazine’s 2020 Athlete of the Year.
James, whose great goal is to become the best player of all time in the NBA, led the Lakers to a new title of champion, the seventeenth in the team’s history, but the first since 2010 when Kobe Bryant and Spaniard Pau Gasol shone.
The Lakers’ success under James’ leadership came during a special and reduced season that had to be concluded in orlando’s ‘bubble’ due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It was also James’ fourth professional title and fourth Most Valuable Player (MVP) finals award, distinctions that made him the first NBA player to win the award with three different teams.
Only Michael Jordan, with six titles, has more.
Since then, James has extended his contract with the Lakers. He signed a new one for two years and $85 million, which will also allow him the opportunity to play alongside his eldest son, Bronny James, who is currently in high school.
Time’s cover shows a james painting by Tyler Gordon, 14.
James, 35, has been one of the sport’s leading voices in speaking out against racial injustice and police brutality, and before the U.S. presidential election in November promoted voter registration and created the organization “More than a Vote,” in an effort to combat the suppression racist voter system.
The group consists of prominent athletes and black artists who used their social media channels to encourage and educate their supporters on how to cast their vote for this year’s election.
“Not only is he the best player,” tennis champion Naomi Osaka, told Time, who wore masks in honor of victims of racial violence during her career toward last September’s US Open title, “but she has the most powerful voice.”
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton, another athlete who spoke out against social injustice, also told Time that “when I saw on the other side of the puddle that another elite athlete was also fighting for similar causes, I knew, okay, I’m not alone here.”
Last year the Time Award was awarded to the U.S. national women’s soccer team after winning the World Cup in France.
