The Associated Press announced LeBron James as their 2013 Male Athlete of the year, making him the third basketball player to win the award which began in 1931.
After winning the Heat their second NBA championship, winning himself the Most Valuable Player award for the fourth time and a getting married, James has had a busy year, but according to him, he is still "striving for greatness," the AP reported.
In the running for male athlete of the year was also Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson, but James beat them with a 31-96 vote, according to the AP. The only other basketball players to be given the award is Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.
"I'm chasing something and it's bigger than me as a basketball player," James told the AP. "I believe my calling is much higher than being a basketball player. I can inspire people. Youth is huge to me. If I can get kids to look at me as a role model, as a leader, a superhero ... those things mean so much, and that's what I think I was built for. I was put here for this lovely game of basketball, but I don't think this is the biggest role that I'm going to have."
In 2013 alone and with just three games left in the season, James has played in 98 games, 78 of which the Heat won, the AP reported.
Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat's coach, said James "rises to the occasion when it matters the most," the AP reported.
"I don't think I've changed much this year," James said, according to the AP. "I've just improved and continued to improve on being more than just as a basketball player. I've matured as a leader, as a father, as a husband, as a friend."
With an annual income of about $60 million, James is making less than one-third comes from playing basketball and the rest from outside business deals, according to the AP.
James' wife opened up her own juice bar in Miami where they live, and recently David Beckham asked James to be a part of his Major League Soccer team he plans to bring to Miami, and it seems James just might do it, the AP reported.
"You want to be a part of it, but it has to feel real to you," James told the AP. "You don't want to do something that doesn't feel much to you, that you're just doing for the money. We all have money. For me, my time is more than money at this point in my life."
In 2014, James will once again be a free agent, but he has not released any news on what his future plans are, insisting he is only concentrating on the present, according to the AP.
"I'm so zoned in on what my task is here this year that it's hard to think about anything else," James told the AP. "A guy the other day asked me what I'm going to do for New Year's, and I haven't even thought about that."
