ESPY Awards 2012 Winners: Why LeBron James Deserves His Multiple Awards

LeBron James was one of the stars at the 2012 ESPY Awards, as the Miami Heat forward won three awards thanks to his remarkable 2011-12 NBA season.

After winning his first championship this past season, seeing James win multiple awards certainly wasn't a surprise. Let's recap James' ESPY awards and why he deserved to win each one.

Best Male Athlete

This was the award category that James faced the strongest competition in. The nominees for this award included James, men's tennis star Novak Djokovic, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.

Rodgers was the player with the best resume to challenge James, as he won the NFL MVP award last season, but James' championship success gave him an advantage over the Packers star.

Best NBA Player

After winning the regular season and NBA Finals MVP awards, there was little doubt that James would win the ESPY for Best NBA Player.

A case could have been made for Kevin Durant, but it would have been difficult to do that after the legendary season that James had. It would have been disappointing if the Heat star didn't win this award.

Best Championship Player

After overcoming a great deal of pressure and winning his first title, James was the obvious choice for the fans in this category.

James' triple-double in the championship-clinching Game 5 victory for the Heat over the Oklahoma City Thunder proved that he was the best player when it mattered most this season, regardless of the sport.