LeBron James is SportsCenter's most mentioned athlete

LeBron James, on top of all the other accolades he has accumulated over the past 16 months, is SportsCenter's most discussed athlete, according to a recent report published by Deadspin.

James, whose Miami Heat have won back-to-back NBA titles, has been a top topic for all things ESPN since he entered the league as a highly-touted teen back in 2003. ESPN's web site even has an entire tab dedicated to the Heat team known simply as the Heat Index.

James has been the most discussed and dissected athlete over the past decade, so his spot atop SportsCenter's most mentioned list is not a surprise.

The study, which spanned over a year's worth of SportsCenter and calculated total mentions per player, demonstrated that ESPN may focus slightly more on some sports and its athletes than others.

Out of the 12 top most mentioned athletes, eight were NBA players, three were NFL quarterbacks, and one, Tiger Woods, is a professional golfer.

Players from the NHL and MLB were noticeably absent.

According to Deadspin, the top 12 most mentioned athletes on ESPN's SportsCenter over the past year were:

1. LeBron James

2. Kobe Bryant

3. Peyton Manning

4. Dwyane Wade

5. Kevin Durant

6. Tiger Woods

7. Tim Tebow

8. Tom Brady

9. Jeremy Lin

10. Derrick Rose

11. Carmelo Anthony

12. Dwight Howard



[Check out Deadspin's full report on a year's worth of SportsCenter here.]