CLEVELAND, OH. – LeBron James was presented his second consecutive NBA MVP, joining nine other NBA players who have won the award in back-to-back seasons.Those familiar names are Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Tim Duncan, Steve Nash and Bill Russell.

Three of those stars, Russell, Chamberlain and Bird actually took the trophy home three times in a row.

James’ win comes at the heels of a season where he compiled the most impressive stats of his 7-year career that included 29.7 PPG, 7.3 rebounds and 8.6assists.NBA Commissioner David Stern presented the hardware to James Sunday at the University of Akron.

The Cavs star received 116 of a possible 123 first-place votes blowing away all the other candidates. Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant came in second but was picked first on only four ballots.

One piece of the puzzle for James’ career that remains missing is an NBA Championship. The Cavs have surrounded James with several different player combinations and have yet to find the right mix to bring Cleveland its first NBA Championship.

The most recent group includes Shaquille O’Neal who has won titles for the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat. The Cavs are considered by many as this year’s favorite after winning 61 games this season snagging the top seed in the playoffs.

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Vancouver, B.C. – The Opening Ceremony for the 2010 Winter Olympics will take place tonight in Vancouver and like many past Olympics the question remains on who will light the torch.

Many famous former athletes have a history of lighting the flame including Muhammad Ali who lit it during the opening ceremonies for the summer Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.

Another notable lighting occurred during the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 when the entire 1980 USA ‘Miracle on Ice’ hockey team led by their captain Mike Eruzione handled the honors.

This year, the favorite? Canada’s most respected hockey player, Wayne Gretzky and the buzz has gathered a lot of momentum over the past few days.

A recent poll conducted by the Globe and Mail found that 25 percent of Canadians want to see Gretzky, their most famous sports hero light the flame when the ceremony takes place tonight. A poll held on CTVOlympics.com has Gretzky at 41 percent.

Although the NHL’s all-time leading scorer never won a gold medal for Canada as a player, he did manage Team Canada to the top of the podium in Salt Lake in 2002.

The ceremony can be seen on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET.

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