The Associated Press named LeBron James as its Male Athlete of the Decade. James joins Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, and Arnold Palmer as other recipients for the honor.

"You add another 10 years of learning and adversity, pitfalls, good, great, bad, and any smart person who wants to grow will learn from all those experiences. A decade ago, I just turned 25. I'm about to be 35, and I'm just in a better [place] in my life and have a better understanding of what I want to get out of life," said James, who turns 35 on Monday.

Tom Brady and Usain Bolt took second and third in the voting.

James, who is close to passing Kobe Bryant for 3rd in all-time scoring, admitted that passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for first place is within reach. 

"I would be lying if I said I don't see it. Obviously I'm not trying to say, 'OK, well if I play this amount of time, if I average this' ... I'm not doing that because I've never done that with my career. I've always just kind of let it happen. Whatever happens, happens. But I see it. I do see it."