J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award National Basketball Association award
The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player, coach, or staff member who showed "outstanding service and dedication to the community."[ 1]
The winner was selected by the Pro Basketball Writers Association (PBWA), which represents writers for newspapers, magazines and internet services who cover the NBA on a regular basis. Members of the PBWA nominate players for the award, and then a vote was taken by approximately 150 PBWA members. The person with the highest point total wins the award.[ 2] James Walter Kennedy , the second commissioner (then president)[ a] [ 2]
The award was usually given to a person who made a substantial charitable contribution. For example, Kevin Garnett received the award for the 2005–06 season after donating $1.2 million toward the Hurricane Katrina 's relief efforts .[ 4]
Since its inception, the award has been given to 34 different people. Only one season had joint winners—Michael Cooper and Rory Sparrow in the 1985–86 season . Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia (now Serbia ), Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo , Pau Gasol of Spain, Canadians Steve Nash (born in South Africa), Samuel Dalembert (born in Haiti ), and Luol Deng of the United Kingdom (born in South Sudan ) are the only winners who were not born in the United States. J. J. Barea , the 2018 winner, was born in Puerto Rico , a territory whose native-born residents are U.S. citizens by birth. Mutombo is also the only player to win the award twice.[ 5] Frank Layden and Joe O'Toole were the only non-players to win the award. Layden, the 1983–84 award recipient, was the head coach for the Utah Jazz ,[ 6] 1994–95 award recipient, was the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks .[ 7]
Winners
Dikembe Mutombo is the only person to have won the award twice. Magic Johnson won the award in the 1991–92 NBA season. LeBron James won the award in the 2016–17 season. Stephen Curry won the award in the 2022–23 season.
^
Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*
Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (#)
Denotes the number of times the player has received the award
Team (#)
Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Teams
Awards
Teams
Years
5
Detroit Pistons
1978 , 1982 , 1987 , 1994 , 2008
4
Cleveland Cavaliers
1980 , 2005 , 2014 , 2017
Los Angeles Lakers
1986 , 1992 , 2011 , 2012
Portland Trail Blazers
1993 , 1996 , 1999 , 2019
3
Atlanta Hawks
1990 , 1995 , 1998
Denver Nuggets
1985 , 1988 , 2013
Philadelphia 76ers
1983 , 2001 , 2010
2
Houston Rockets
1979 , 2009
Indiana Pacers
2004 , 2020
Miami Heat
1997 , 2002
New York Knicks
1981 , 1986
Phoenix Suns
1991 , 2007
Utah Jazz
1984 , 1989
Washington Wizards / Washington Bullets
1975 , 1977
1
Brooklyn Nets
2016
Chicago Bulls
2015
Dallas Mavericks
2018
Golden State Warriors
2023
Minnesota Timberwolves
2006
New Orleans Pelicans
2024
Sacramento Kings
2000
San Antonio Spurs
2003
Oklahoma City Thunder / Seattle SuperSonics
1976
0
Los Angeles Clippers
None
Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Memphis Grizzlies
Toronto Raptors
Orlando Magic
See also
Notes
^ The official title of the position was NBA President until 1967 when it was changed to NBA Commissioner .[ 3]
^ Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named
^ Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace on September 16, 2011.[ 8]
References
General Specific
^ "Pistons G Chauncey Billups wins sportsmanship award" . ESPN.com . Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2008 .^ a b "Snow Named Winner of J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award" . NBA.com . Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 26, 2007. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2008 .^ Mike Monroe. "The Commissioners" . NBA.com . Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2008 . ^ "Garnett wins Kennedy Citizenship Award" . USA Today . Associated Press . October 31, 2006. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2008 .^ "Mutombo wins J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award" . NBA.com . Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 23, 2009. Archived from the original on April 26, 2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009 .^ "Frank Layden Coaching Record" . basketball-reference.com . Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008 .^ "Smith receives NBA's award for community service" . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2008 .^ "Artest's Name Change to Metta World Peace Approved" . The New York Times . September 16, 2011. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved September 16, 2011 .
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