HAWKS’ KYLE KORVER WINS 2014-15 NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
NEW YORK , April 29, 2015 – Kyle Korver of the Atlanta Hawks is the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2014-15 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, the NBA announced today. Korver becomes the first Hawks player to receive the honor.
Korver (Southeast) was one of six divisional winners, joining the Toronto Raptors’ Amir Johnson (Atlantic), the Chicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol (Central), the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Nick Collison (Northwest), the Los Angeles Lakers’ Jeremy Lin (Pacific) and the New Orleans Pelicans’ Anthony Davis (Southwest). The NBA will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of Korver to his charity of choice, Helping Hand Rescue Mission.
Korver received 87 of 317 first-place votes and 2,351 total points from NBA players, who voted on the award for the 11 th consecutive year. The six finalists were awarded 11 points for each first- place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven points for each third-place vote, five points for each fourth-place vote, three points for each fifth-place vote and one point for each sixth-place vote.
Each team nominated one of its players for the award. The six divisional winners from among 30 team nominees were selected by Mike Bantom, NBA Executive Vice President, Referee Operations; Rod Thorn, NBA President, Basketball Operations; Kiki VanDeWeghe, NBA Senior Vice President, Basketball Operations; and NBA Cares Ambassadors Jason Collins and Bob Lanier, a Hall of Fame center.
Besides the donation to Helping Hand Rescue Mission on behalf of Korver, the NBA will make $5,000 donations to the other five divisional winners’ charities of choice: Blessings in a Backpack for Johnson; Gasol Foundation for Gasol; Special Care, Inc. for Collison; Partnership for the Advancement & Immersion of Refugees for Lin; and Audubon Nature Institute for Davis.
The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship -- ethical behavior, fair play and integrity -- in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league’s NBA Cares program. The trophy is named for former Detroit Pistons guard and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the award’s first recipient, in 1995-96.
- more -
PAGE TWO 2014-15 NBA Sportsmanship Award
Below are the voting totals for the 2014-15 NBA Sportsmanship Award:
2014-15 NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD VOTING TOTALS
Player, Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points Kyle Korver, Atlanta 87 70 66 31 42 21 2,351 Anthony Davis, New Orleans 56 76 60 55 53 17 2,171 Pau Gasol, Chicago 66 54 58 54 39 46 2,051 Nick Collison, Oklahoma City 35 49 39 70 52 72 1,677 Amir Johnson, Toronto 45 35 35 57 62 83 1,609 Jeremy Lin, Los Angeles Lakers 28 33 59 50 69 78 1,553
Below is the list of all-time winners:
NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
1995-96: Joe Dumars, Detroit 2005-06: Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers 1996-97: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland 2006-07: Luol Deng, Chicago 1997-98: Avery Johnson, San Antonio 2007-08: Grant Hill, Phoenix 1998-99: Hersey Hawkins, Seattle 2008-09: Chauncey Billups, Denver 1999-00: Eric Snow, Philadelphia 2009-10: Grant Hill, Phoenix 2000-01: David Robinson, San Antonio 2010-11: Stephen Curry, Golden State 2001-02: Steve Smith, San Antonio 2011-12: Jason Kidd, Dallas 2002-03: Ray Allen, Seattle 2012-13: Jason Kidd, New York 2003-04: P.J. Brown, New Orleans 2013-14: Mike Conley, Memphis 2004-05: Grant Hill, Orlando 2014-15: Kyle Korver, Atlanta
# # #