NBA's 2008-09 Award Winners

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 13, 2009

NBA's 2008-09 Award Winners

LeBron James, Cavaliers

LeBron guided Cleveland to a league-best 66-16 record and led the team in scoring (28.4), rebounding (7.6), assists (7.2) and steals (1.69). He became the first Cavalier to win the MVP award, doing it handily over second-place Kobe Bryant and third-place Dwyane Wade.

Derrick Rose, Bulls

Rose, the top pick in the 2008 draft, anchored a strong rookie class by averaging 16.8 points and 6.3 assists and quarterbacking the Bulls into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. Memphis' O.J. Mayo, New Jersey's Brook Lopez and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook also collected first-place votes while finishing second, third and fourth, respectively.

Dwight Howard, Magic

At 23, Howard became the youngest winner of the award, which was first handed out in 1983. The 6-foot-11 center, who became the fifth player to lead the NBA in rebounding and blocked shots, received 105 of 119 votes.

Jason Terry, Mavericks

A starter most of his career, Terry embraced his role this season as instant offense off the bench. The Jet single-handedly matched or outscored the opponent's reserves 26 times, and had 33 20-point performances in 66 games as a reserve.

Mike Brown, Cavaliers

Eleven coaches received first-place votes, but Brown won comfortably after leading the Cavs to a 21-win improvement and a franchise-best 66-16 season. In Brown's fourth year as coach, Cleveland finished 39-2 at home and earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in team history.

Danny Granger, Pacers

The fourth-year forward edged fellow first-time All-Star Devin Harris of New Jersey after averaging 25.8 points, the fifth-highest total in the NBA and a 6.2-point increase from last season. Granger (48) and Harris (43) were two of the 16 players to receive first-place votes. Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, last season's Rookie of the Year, finished third.