Barack Obama lauds 'extraordinary leader' LeBron James for winning fourth NBA title

Former US President Barack Obama congratulated Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James for winning his fourth NBA championship and fourth NBA Finals MVP award as well on Sunday. The Lakers clinched their record-equalling 17th championship title with a 4-2 win over Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. LeBron was in fine form on Sunday as he scored a 28-point triple-double, leading the Lakers to a dominant 106-93 win over Miami on Sunday.

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Barack Obama lauds LeBron's leadership on and off the court

Barack Obama posted a congratulatory tweet for LeBron James where he praised the latter for living up the hype created by the Lakers across the 17 seasons in the NBA. Obama then lauded the 35-year-old for his stellar leadership on and off the court.

LeBron James was one of Lakers' leading players throughout the course of the 2020 season. He was in stellar form during the postseason as the Lakers reached the NBA Finals, dropping just three games in previous rounds. The 35-year-old continued his stellar form during the Finals, helping the Lakers to win their first title in over 10 years. The last time the Lakers won the championship was in 2010 when Kobe Bryant led the franchise to a 4-3 win over Boston Celtics in the finals.

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LeBron rightly picked up the Finals MVP award after finishing the six-game series with an average of 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists. The individual accolade also made LeBron James the first player to win the Finals MVP award with three different franchises. He previously won two with the Miami Heat and once with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Outside the court, LeBron James has been a vocal figure for social causes. In recent months, he used his social media handles as a platform to bring awareness to the various social issues and even took an initiative to help the minority communities during the Black Lives Matter movement. LeBron then worked to raise awareness about the right to vote through his "More Than a Vote" campaign. Through his initiative “We Got Next," in collaboration with NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the team recruited over 10,000 poll workers in Black electoral districts for the 2020 presidential elections.

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Barack Obama even made an appearance during Game 1 of the NBA Finals in the virtual fans section. The 59-year-old had a message for the poll workers who have been working diligently for the upcoming elections.

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(Image Credits: AP, Lakers Twitter)