The Cleveland Cavalier’s Anderson Varejão was honored with the 2009 Olympic Brazil award for the best player of the country.

This year has been special for the 27-year old Brazilian Varejão as he was a key component to the 2008-09 Cavs,  who recorded an NBA-best 66-16 record, but fell to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Individually, Varejao had his most successful season in Cleveland as he put up a career high 8.6 points on career-high shooting percentages (53.6% FG, 61.6% FT) as well as 7.2 rebounds per game.

The 6-11 forward/center returned to the Brazilian National Team after a three-year absence and helped the squad take gold in the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship this past summer in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Varejão won the vote from the Brazilian Olympic Committee which is comprised of current and former players, journalists, sport managers, and other athletes defeating other Brazilian basketball nominees such as Leandro Barbosa, Tiago Splitter, Marcelo Machado, and Marcelo Huertas.