This year’s awards are probably the absolute hardest to hand out. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) might be the toughest one, but the others are debatable as well. I think that only two of the are unanimous and have already been decided based on the superb play of the players receiving the awards.

The NBA Sixth Man Award will hand’s down go to none other than the MVP of the San Antonio Spurs, even off the bench, Manu Ginobli. Ginobli has compiled a hell of a resume over the last few seasons but this year he has truly proven that he is the main hustler on this team. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are just as important on this team, but neither provide the extra spark that Ginobli gives on any given night.

The NBA Most Improved Player award easily goes to Hedo Turkoglu of the Orlando Magic. He has been simply phenomenal on this team and has really stepped up in the clutch. He’s not the guy getting paid the big bucks like Rashard Lewis or even Dwight Howard, but like Ginobli, he works his ass off every single night and has been the most clutch player on the team. He deserves this award and although there have been some great breakout performances this season, Hedo has been by far the most impressive.

Now for the purpose of this article. Phil Jackson has done a superb job with this year’s Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant was the biggest story of the offseason last summer and the NBA saw nothing but stories about where Bryant will end up playing the 2007-2008 season. The end result was unlike what anyone else saw coming, Kobe Bryant played the entire year in a Lakers jersey and has potentially secured himself his first ever Most Valuable Player award.

The great story that has come from the Kobe Bryant drama hasn’t really been talked about lately, but allow me to make a valid argument. Mitch Kupchak and Dr. Jerry Buss led Kobe Bryant to the point of asking for a trade and no longer wanting to be a part of this franchise. He was sick of playing for a team that wasn’t prepared to compete for a championship. Kobe wanted to win titles, the Lakers franchise wanted to run a business. When Kobe made his trade demand, the Lakers reassessed their situation and decided to take the necessary steps to keep him in town.

Derek Fisher was signed shortly after Kobe’s demands and Kupchak felt that the one move could be enough to save this franchise. Turned out, the leadership of Fisher truly did get the job done. (More on this topic in the coming days as I nominate Kupchak for GM of the year)

The success of this year cannot be judged based on only the Pau Gasol trade that the management was able to pull off and it wasn’t only due to the severe growth of Andrew Bynum. Instead, this year’s success came from the leadership that Kobe Bryant took upon himself on the court. His leadership didn’t come out of nowhere though. His leadership came from the guidance of Phil Jackson.

The legendary coach that took six Chicago Bulls teams to the promised land, three previous Los Angeles Lakers teams to the same great place, was now back to work his magic yet again. He has often been known as the coach that sits on the sideline and doesn’t do much during the game. Perhaps this is because he does enough during practice and off the court that his job is that much easier on the court. No one truly knows why he is so quiet during games, but we do know his success stories and his track record is enough for us to believe in him.

I strongly believe that Phil Jackson is single handedly responsible for sitting down Kobe Bryant and explaining to him his role on this Lakers team. He explained to Kobe that it is possible to win with this squad and that with the right attitude, they will succeed. The season started off amazingly with the Lakers playing great quality basketball after the first rough stretch of 9-8. The Lakers are now in 1st place at the end of the regular season and hold home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.

Sure, you can argue that the Lakers are good because of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum but neither of these guys played more than half the season, and only about 2/3 of the season combined. Kobe has truly been the leader on the court, but Phil Jackson turned this team into what it really is by building team chemistry and unity.

Byron Scott is probably the leading man for the honors of the coaching award, but here is my counter argument. I truly feel that Scott has done an amazing job turning this team into what it is today. No one expected them to go anywhere, and all of the sudden, they are competing for a championship. The difference between Scott and Jackson however is great. I feel that any coach in the league is capable of leading a team to victories almost the same way. The difference however is the coach’s ability to encourage the players to want to win together and make it happen.

With all the off court drama that surrounded the Lakers franchise early in the season and into the trade deadline until Pau Gasol came along, Phil Jackson deserves all the credit for making this team a real contender. The play book and the teaching of the offense is not nearly as significant with the drama that Phil had to deal with in order to give this team any chance of competing at all. Phil did his job, taught the offense, built unity, and created a monster that is the new favorite to win the championship.