It was much more than just an individually dominant season. For LeBron James, ’08-09 was a year of league/franchise-best records, playful pre-game photo opps, and now-infamous crab dribbling. And, of course, there was that unwavering focus.
The Cavs were stronger as a unit, but LeBron did it all, gaining the respect of his detractors, who said he didn’t crave victory enough to win the MVP. His game has always been about brute strength, but the desire and leadership were the difference this season. As first reported in Plain-Dealer:
According to a league source, LeBron James will be named the NBA Most Valuable Player this afternoon.
James has chosen to have the announcement at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron. All his Cavs teammates are expected to be there as well as representatives from Kia, which will give him a new car as part of the honor.
Congrats to Bron Bron, who also finished No. 2 Defensive Player of the Year voting. He’s the second youngest to be named MVP, behind only Wes Unseld. You’ll recall it was LeBron’s acceptance of Unseld’s throwback jersey that stripped him of his eligibility back in high school. Let’s hope he wears that jersey again today.
| ’08-09 MVP AWARD VOTING RESULTS | ||||||
| Player | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Total |
| LeBron James | 109 | 11 | 1 | – | – | 1172 |
| Kobe Bryant | 2 | 56 | 52 | 8 | 2 | 698 |
| Dwyane Wade | 7 | 50 | 41 | 17 | 4 | 680 |
| Dwight Howard | 1 | 3 | 17 | 63 | 23 | 328 |
| Chris Paul | 2 | 1 | 9 | 23 | 51 | 192 |
| Chauncey Billups | – | – | – | 6 | 15 | 33 |
| Paul Pierce | – | – | 1 | 2 | 10 | 21 |
| Tony Parker | – | – | – | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Brandon Roy | – | – | – | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 |
| Tim Duncan | – | – | – | – | 2 | 2 |
| Yao Ming | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
