Back-to-back MVP LeBron mum on future

LeBron James Sunday became the NBA's 10th repeat winner of the league's MVP. What waits to be seen is if the Knicks this summer can convince him to be the third reigning MVP to change teams.

In the midst of his MVP celebration, which for the second straight year was held in his beloved hometown of Akron, Ohio, and included a show of great loyalty and appreciation when James called on his Cavaliers teammates to join him on the dais, The King was pressed about his free agency plans this summer. He was asked by a reporter from The Associated Press the question everyone in Cleveland - if not the entire NBA - continues to wonder: How could he even think about leaving?

"I love this place to death," James said of Akron. "It will always be my home and it will always be my life." But he offered nothing more to calm any concerns that he might consider leaving the Cavaliers for the big stage - and much bigger market - the Knicks are offering here in New York. "No matter where life may [take] me," James added. "I'm never gone from here."

James earned 116 of 123 possible first place votes. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder finished second in the overall voting, followed by Lakers star Kobe Bryant. James is the NBA's first two-time MVP since Steve Nash won the award in 2005 and '06.

The NBA twice before has seen a reigning MVP change teams in the offseason. Wilt Chamberlain was a three-time MVP when he forced a trade from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1968. And in 1982, Moses Malone left the Houston Rockets when he signed with the 76ers as a restricted free agent. The Rockets matched the contract offer but then traded him to Philadelphia.