The Big 3-0 for LeBron James

ByBRIAN WINDHORST
December 30, 2014, 6:26 PM

— -- Miami Heat, this birthday was spent in Minneapolis, and a win over the Wolves included a near triple-double, with 34 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists. But he had other things on his mind. What was supposed to be a birthday party the next night at a South Beach club turned into an engagement party.

Just before midnight, with his two sons next to him, he proposed to longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson and presented her a $300,000, five-carat ring. They got married in 2013 in an opulent ceremony in San Diego.

30th birthday, 2014

He's a winner of two titles, a father of three, a winner of four MVP Awards. Three pretty strong decades. His is already one of the most decorated careers in league history, and there are career milestones starting to come into view. Now in his 12th season, he's in the back half of his career. He has admitted he has lost a little, athletically -- a common reality for all 30-year-olds. Almost nothing else in his first 30 years, though, has been normal.