“The real trophy is winning the championship and that’s what this is all about” – When Phil Jackson downplayed LeBron James winning the MVP originally appeared on Basketball Network.
LeBron James won his first of four MVP awards in 2009, and Phil Jackson was among the well-wishers. However, the Zen Master was quick to remind LBJ that the hardware in June was the ultimate prize. In Jackson’s point of view, the award mattered less than the championship that followed.
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“I certainly think LeBron deserved it this year, maybe not by the landslide that he had, but he certainly had a terrific season and so did Cleveland,” Jackson said, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
However, there’s a caveat, a warning almost.
“The real trophy is winning the championship and that’s what this is all about,” added the multititled coach.
How LeBron distanced himself from the pack
The Cleveland Cavaliers finished with the league’s best record in the Association in 2008-09 and Jackson felt that was one of the reasons why James went away with the MVP. They won 66 games that year, one more than the Los Angeles Lakers led by 2008 awardee, Kobe Bryant.
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For Phil, the deciding factor could be the stretch where the Cavs just about won every game.
“I think there’s a lot of sentiment toward that, but I felt that shift somewhere — toward the end of March and beginning of April, where they ran off, what, 12 games in a row or something like that. They had a winning streak that kind of separated us from them. Not much, but enough,” observed Jackson.
It was actually a 13-game winning streak that Cleveland pulled off from March 7 to 31. They only lost one game the entire month. During that stretch, Bron averaged 28.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 8.4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks, slightly above his season averages. That was enough for the Cavs to overtake the Lakers in the standings and for James to swing MVP votes to his side.
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As Jackson pointed out, though, LeBron won the award “by a landslide,” leaving little question in voters’ minds about the rightful recipient. That means Bryant, who won the award the previous season, essentially had no chance at it even after winning 65 games.
The Black Mamba finished second behind King James. Still, the latter accumulated 109 first-place votes compared to two for the former. (Third-place Dwyane Wade had more first-place nods than Kobe with 7.)
“Sometimes I wish that we could have won some games that we felt were winnable,” Bryant’s teammate Lamar Odom said. “If we had a better record, it might have been closer.”
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James credits his teammates
LeBron guided the Cavaliers to their best season in franchise history at that point. Still, his success was built on the contributions around him. As outstanding as his year was, the MVP is ultimately tied to team success — the standings wouldn’t carry weight in voting if it weren’t. Even Kobe thought so.
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“Individual accolades come when team success happens,” James said. “You look at those 14 guys over there, I got the award because of them. They put in the work.”
In jest, The Chosen One added: “This award is going to be like the both of ours, but I’m going to keep it at my house.”
Unfortunately, Jackson’s reminder rang true. LBJ may have had a dominant regular-season run, but the year ultimately belonged to Bryant and the Lakers. Worse, the Cavs were bounced out by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals, preventing a cinema-like Kobe vs. Bron matchup on the grandest stage.
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The MVP confirmed James’s rise was inevitable. As Jackson implied, the playoffs would still demand another level of greatness, one he wouldn’t reach until the years ahead.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 1, 2025, where it first appeared.