LeBron James is SI’s Sportsman of the Year

MIAMI (AP) - LeBron James is Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year. The Miami Heat star is the first NBA player to win the award since teammate Dwyane Wade in 2006.

Time Inc. Sports Group editor Paul Fichtenbaum says one thing separating James this year was that when Miami needed him most "he came up the biggest."

Fichtenbaum says James was the choice not only for his play but also because of his charitable work, especially involving schoolchildren in his native Akron, Ohio.

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, who coached James and his U.S. teammates to gold at this year's London Olympics and in 2008 in Beijing, shared the honor with Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summit last year.

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