NBA Sportsmanship Award

The National Basketball Association's Sportsmanship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1995–96 NBA season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair play and integrity".^[1] It is directly analogous to the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, which has been awarded by the NBA's sister league, the WNBA, since that league's inception in 1997. Both the NBA and WNBA awards are nearly comparable to the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL), although unlike the NHL counterpart, neither award demands excellence of play.

Every year, each of the 30 NBA teams nominates one of its players to compete for this award. From these 30 nominees, six players, one from each NBA division, are selected by a panel as the divisional Sportsmanship Award winners. Finally at the end of the regular season, NBA players cast vote for this award, with eleven points given for each first-place vote, nine for second-place vote, seven points for third, five points for fourth, three points for fifth and one point for each sixth place vote received. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. The winner of this award is presented with the Joe Dumars Trophy, named after the former Detroit Pistons player and the award's inaugural recipient.^[1][2]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 13 different players. Three-time winner Grant Hill is the only person to have received this honor more than once.^[3] Two teams have had multiple players winning the award: the San Antonio Spurs (three players) and the Seattle SuperSonics (two players). Joe Dumars and David Robinson are the only award winners to have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame,^[4] and Luol Deng is the only foreign NBA player to win the award.^[5]

Winners

Grant Hill is the only three-time winner of the NBA Sportsmanship Award.

Luol Deng is the only foreign NBA player to win the award, winning in the 2006–07 season.

^	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has received the award

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	References
1995–96	Dumars, JoeJoe Dumars*	Guard	United States	Detroit Pistons	[2]
1996–97	Brandon, TerrellTerrell Brandon	Guard	United States	Cleveland Cavaliers	[6]
1997–98	Johnson, AveryAvery Johnson	Guard	United States	San Antonio Spurs	[7]
1998–99	Hawkins, HerseyHersey Hawkins	Guard	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	[8]
1999–00	Snow, EricEric Snow	Guard	United States	Philadelphia 76ers	[9]
2000–01	Robinson, DavidDavid Robinson*	Center	United States	San Antonio Spurs	[10]
2001–02	Smith, SteveSteve Smith	Guard	United States	San Antonio Spurs	[11]
2002–03	Allen, RayRay Allen^	Guard	United States	Seattle SuperSonics	[12]
2003–04	Brown, P. J.P. J. Brown	Center/Forward	United States	New Orleans Hornets	[13]
2004–05	Hill, GrantGrant Hill^	Forward/Guard	United States	Orlando Magic	[3]
2005–06	Brand, EltonElton Brand^	Forward	United States	Los Angeles Clippers	[14]
2006–07	Deng, LuolLuol Deng^	Forward	United Kingdom[a]	Chicago Bulls	[1]
2007–08	Hill, GrantGrant Hill^ (2)	Forward	United States	Phoenix Suns	[3]
2008–09	Billups, ChaunceyChauncey Billups^	Guard	United States	Denver Nuggets	[15]
2009–10	Hill, GrantGrant Hill^ (3)	Forward	United States	Phoenix Suns	[3]
2010–11	Curry, StephenStephen Curry^	Guard	United States	Golden State Warriors	[16]

Notes

• ^a Luol Deng was born in Wau, a city then in Sudan and since July 9, 2011 in South Sudan, but became a naturalized British citizen in 2006.^[17]

References

General

• "NBA postseason awards: Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/awards_sportsmanship.html. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 

Specific

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Chicago's Deng Wins 2006-07 NBA Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 3, 2007. http://www.nba.com/news/deng_sportsmanship_070503.html. Retrieved July 11, 2007. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Divisional Winners Announced for NBA Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/news/sportsmanship_080403.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Hill first-ever three-time NBA Sportsmanship Award winner". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 26, 2010. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/26/sportsmanship.hill/index.html. Retrieved April 26, 2010. 
4. ^ "http://www.hoophall.com/hall-of-famers-index/". Basketball Hall of Fame. http://hoophall.com/halloffamers/bhof-halloffamers-alpha.html. Retrieved September 17, 2011. 
5. ^ "NBA Players From Around The World: 2008-09 Season". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/players/int_players_0809.html. Retrieved April 28, 2009. 
6. ^ "Terrell Brandon Bio: 1996-97". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/terrell_brandon/bio.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
7. ^ "Avery Johnson Bio: 1997-98". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/avery_johnson/bio.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
8. ^ "Hersey Hawkins Bio: 1998-99". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/hersey_hawkins/bio.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
9. ^ "Eric Snow Bio: Personal". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/eric_snow/bio.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
10. ^ "Admiral Lands Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 7, 2001. http://www.nba.com/news/sportsmanship_010507.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
11. ^ "Spurs' Steve Smith Wins Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 12, 2002. http://www.nba.com/news/sportsmanship_020612.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
12. ^ "Allen's message: Be true to yourself". ESPN.com. May 13, 2003. http://static.espn.go.com/nba/news/2003/0513/1553159.html. Retrieved March 8, 2009. 
13. ^ "Hornets’ Brown Wins Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 24, 2004. http://www.nba.com/news/brown_040424.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
14. ^ "L.A. Clippers’ Elton Brand Wins NBA Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 1, 2006. http://www.nba.com/news/brand_sportsmanship_060430.html. Retrieved July 2, 2008. 
15. ^ "Nuggets' Billups named Sportsmanship Award winner". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 28, 2009. http://www.nba.com/2009/news/04/28/sportsman.award.billups.nba/index.html. Retrieved April 28, 2009. 
16. ^ "Warriors' Stephen Curry wins NBA Sportsmanship Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 5, 2011. http://www.nba.com/2011/news/05/05/stephen-curry-sportsmanship/index.html. Retrieved May 5, 2011. 
17. ^ "NBA star Deng ready for GB debut". BBC. October 18, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/basketball/6064476.stm. Retrieved August 14, 2008.