Will LeBron James make it unanimous in the NBA MVP race?

So far ahead of the pack is LeBron James that NBA observers now wonder if the Cleveland Cavaliers star might become the league’s first unanimous pick as most valuable player. . . .

Shaquille O’Neal famously fell one vote short in 2000, when sports anchor and lone dissenter Fred Hickman explained after voting for Allen Iverson, “You take Shaq away from the Lakers and you’ve still got a great team. You take Iverson away from the 76ers and they are the Clippers, the Hawks.” . . .

Iverson finished seventh in the voting, and Hickman later claimed he’d received anonymous threats of bodily harm. . . .

Trivia time: How many times was Hall of Famer James Worthy an All-NBA first-, second- or third-team selection? . . .

Attention, Joe Torre: Spanning more than 50 years in Los Angeles and all their years in Brooklyn before that, the Dodgers have never finished first three seasons in a row. . . .

Torii Hunter and the Angels remain one of the major leagues’ top bargains, according to the Team Marketing Report, with an average price of about $19 for a regular-seat ticket. . . .

The average price for a non-premium-seat ticket at Dodger Stadium, according to the report, is about $30. . . .

Ten years ago this week, quarterbacks Giovanni Carmazzi of Hofstra, Tee Martin of Tennessee and Spergon Wynn III of Southwest Texas State were among the 198 players taken ahead of Tom Brady in the NFL draft. . . .

Other quarterbacks selected before Brady were Chad Pennington, Marc Bulger and Chris Redman. . . .

It will be an odd sensation for the Kings on Sunday, ending the regular season without clearing their lockers afterward. . . .

Now comes the fun part. . . .

Don Nelson, long associated with the Boston Celtics and now the NBA’s winningest coach, played two seasons with the Lakers before they released him in 1965 — only to have him help the Celtics beat them in the NBA Finals in 1966, ’68 and ’69. . . .

Before last week’s NCAA tournament final, the Wall Street Journal noted that Grant Hill, Elton Brand and other former Duke stars had appeared in more than 14,000 NBA games while former Butler players had appeared in 166. . . .

Duke’s bashers are more annoying than Duke’s fans. . . .

It’s hard buying into Lane Kiffin’s contention that the USC quarterback competition is open between incumbent starter Matt Barkley and longtime backup Mitch Mustain, who made his last collegiate start four years ago at Arkansas. . . .

A recent ESPN poll of NHL players revealed that 42% believe they have a gay teammate. . . .

Neither Joe West nor Fox, which will put mikes on the boys in blue again this season, seem to have gotten the memo that umpires should be seen and not heard, but West had a point when complaining about interminably long games. . . .

The only NHL players to score 500 points at a younger age than Sidney Crosby were Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. . . .

The last World Series matching teams with payrolls in the lower half of the majors was in 1991, when Jack Morris and the Minnesota Twins topped the Atlanta Braves in seven games. . . .

A year earlier, both teams finished last in their divisions. . . .

A Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that 35% of adults worldwide have witnessed unsavory behavior by a parent at a children’s sporting event, which is bad enough, but even more alarming is that the figure rises to a whopping 60% among Americans. . . .

Noting that Brett Favre’s newborn grandson was named Parker Brett, reader Ken Feldman of Porter Ranch e-mails to ask, “I wonder if there was a typo at the hospital and his name was intended to be Packer Brett.” . . .

After 2007, it seems unlikely. . . .

Former Dodgers pitcher Stan Williams explains that the late Willie Davis was nicknamed “Three Dog” because he “ran like a greyhound, enjoyed gambling and wore No. 3.” . . .

After Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves hit a 476-foot home run on his first swing in a regular-season game, Derrek Lee of the Chicago Cubs asked of the rookie, “He’s only 20?” . . .

Trivia answer: Worthy, twice an All-NBA third-team pick, was never a first- or second-team selection. . . .

When former porn star and alleged Tiger Woods mistress Joslyn James took the stage at an Atlanta strip club on the opening day of the Masters, she wore a green jacket.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com