For the second time in his career, Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies received the NBA Sportsmanship Award and the Joe Dumars trophy (named for its first recipient in 1996) with it. Conley joins Grant Hill and Jason Kidd as one of the only players to win the award multiple times. Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers was also nominated.
Conley (Southwest) was one of six divisional winners, joining the Toronto Raptors’ Luis Scola (Atlantic), the Chicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol (Central), the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard (Northwest), the Golden State Warriors’ Shaun Livingston (Pacific) and 2014-15 winner Kyle Korver of the Atlanta Hawks (Southeast). The NBA will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of Conley to his charity of choice, Methodist Healthcare Foundation, with the money earmarked for the Methodist Sickle Cell Center.
Per Adi Joseph of Sporting News, the NBA selects one nominee from each division, and the players vote on who they think should win. Lillard came in fourth in the voting, but by a very narrow margin. In fact, Lillard received the most first place votes, but had a lower point total than other deserving candidates.
The Sportsmanship Award is voted on by players, who rank six candidates, one from each division, chosen by the NBA. pic.twitter.com/3deJGp7KXV
— Adi Joseph (@AdiJoseph) April 23, 2016
This was Lillard’s second nomination, following his first in 2014, when Conley initially took home the trophy. Past winners are listed below:
- 2015: Kyle Korver, Atlanta
- 2014: Mike Conley, Memphis
- 2013: Jason Kidd, New York
- 2012: Jason Kidd, Dallas
- 2011: Stephen Curry, Golden State
- 2010: Grant Hill, Phoenix
- 2009: Chauncey Billups, Denver
- 2008: Grant Hill, Phoenix
- 2007: Luol Deng, Chicago
- 2006: Elton Brand, Los Angles (Clippers)
- 2005: Grant Hill, Orlando
- 2004: P.J. Brown, New Orleans
- 2003: Ray Allen, Seattle
- 2002: Steve Smith, San Antonio
- 2001: David Robinson, San Antonio
- 2000: Eric Snow, Philadelphia
- 1999: Hersey Hawkins, Seattle
- 1998: Avery Johnson, San Antonio
- 1997: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland
- 1996: Joe Dumars, Detroit