J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

Last updated
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
Sport Basketball
League National Basketball Association
Awarded forPlayer, coach or staff member who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community
History
First award 1975–76
Most recent C.J. McCollum
New Orleans Pelicans

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]

Contents

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] The award was named in honor of James Walter Kennedy, the second commissioner (then president) [a] of the NBA. [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] while O'Toole, the 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. Lipofsky-Dikembe Mutombo.jpg
Dikembe Mutombo is the only person to have won the award twice.
Magic Johnson won the award in the 1991-92 NBA season. Magic Johnson Steve Lipofsky.jpg
Magic Johnson won the award in the 1991–92 NBA season.
LeBron James won the award in the 2016-17 season. LeBron James (15847318851).jpg
LeBron James won the award in the 2016–17 season.
Stephen Curry won the award in the 2022-23 season. Stephen Curry close up.jpg
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
SeasonWinnerNationalityTeam
1974–75 Wes Unseld *Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States Washington Bullets
1975–76 Slick Watts Flag of the United States.svg United States Seattle SuperSonics
1976–77 Dave Bing *Flag of the United States.svg United States Washington Bullets (2)
1977–78 Bob Lanier *Flag of the United States.svg United States Detroit Pistons
1978–79 Calvin Murphy *Flag of the United States.svg United States Houston Rockets
1979–80 Austin Carr Flag of the United States.svg United States Cleveland Cavaliers
1980–81 Mike Glenn Flag of the United States.svg United States New York Knicks
1981–82 Kent Benson Flag of the United States.svg United States Detroit Pistons (2)
1982–83 Julius Erving *Flag of the United States.svg United States Philadelphia 76ers
1983–84 Frank Layden Flag of the United States.svg United States Utah Jazz
1984–85 Dan Issel *Flag of the United States.svg United States Denver Nuggets
1985–86 [b] Michael Cooper *Flag of the United States.svg United States Los Angeles Lakers
Rory Sparrow Flag of the United States.svg United States New York Knicks (2)
1986–87 Isiah Thomas *Flag of the United States.svg United States Detroit Pistons (3)
1987–88 Alex English *Flag of the United States.svg United States Denver Nuggets (2)
1988–89 Thurl Bailey Flag of the United States.svg United States Utah Jazz (2)
1989–90 Doc Rivers Flag of the United States.svg United States Atlanta Hawks
1990–91 Kevin Johnson Flag of the United States.svg United States Phoenix Suns
1991–92 Magic Johnson *Flag of the United States.svg United States Los Angeles Lakers (2)
1992–93 Terry Porter Flag of the United States.svg United States Portland Trail Blazers
1993–94 Joe Dumars *Flag of the United States.svg United States Detroit Pistons (4)
1994–95 Joe O'Toole Flag of the United States.svg United States Atlanta Hawks (2)
1995–96 Chris Dudley Flag of the United States.svg United States Portland Trail Blazers (2)
1996–97 P. J. Brown Flag of the United States.svg United States Miami Heat
1997–98 Steve Smith Flag of the United States.svg United States Atlanta Hawks (3)
1998–99 Brian Grant Flag of the United States.svg United States Portland Trail Blazers (3)
1999–00 Vlade Divac *Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (1992-2006).svg  Yugoslavia Sacramento Kings
2000–01 Dikembe Mutombo *Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1997-2003).svg Democratic Republic of the Congo Philadelphia 76ers (2)
2001–02 Alonzo Mourning *Flag of the United States.svg United States Miami Heat (2)
2002–03 David Robinson *Flag of the United States.svg United States San Antonio Spurs
2003–04 Reggie Miller *Flag of the United States.svg United States Indiana Pacers
2004–05 Eric Snow Flag of the United States.svg United States Cleveland Cavaliers (2)
2005–06 Kevin Garnett *Flag of the United States.svg United States Minnesota Timberwolves
2006–07 Steve Nash *Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada Phoenix Suns (2)
2007–08 Chauncey Billups *Flag of the United States.svg United States Detroit Pistons (5)
2008–09 Dikembe Mutombo * (2)Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg Democratic Republic of the Congo Houston Rockets (2)
2009–10 Samuel Dalembert Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada Philadelphia 76ers (3)
2010–11 Ron Artest [c] Flag of the United States.svg United States Los Angeles Lakers (3)
2011–12 Pau Gasol *Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Los Angeles Lakers (4)
2012–13 Kenneth Faried Flag of the United States.svg United States Denver Nuggets (3)
2013–14 Luol Deng Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Cleveland Cavaliers (3)
2014–15 Joakim Noah Flag of France.svg  France Chicago Bulls
2015–16 Wayne Ellington Flag of the United States.svg United States Brooklyn Nets
2016–17 LeBron James ^Flag of the United States.svg United States Cleveland Cavaliers (4)
2017–18 J.J. Barea Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico Dallas Mavericks
2018–19 Damian Lillard ^Flag of the United States.svg United States Portland Trail Blazers (4)
2019–20 Malcolm Brogdon ^Flag of the United States.svg United States Indiana Pacers (2)
2022–23 Stephen Curry ^Flag of the United States.svg United States Golden State Warriors
2023–24 CJ McCollum ^Flag of the United States.svg United States New Orleans Pelicans

Teams

AwardsTeamsYears
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

  1. ↑ The official title of the position was NBA President until 1967 when it was changed to NBA Commissioner. [3]
  2. ↑ Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named
  3. ↑ Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace on September 16, 2011. [8]

References

General
Specific
  1. ↑ "Pistons G Chauncey Billups wins sportsmanship award". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "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.
  3. ↑ Mike Monroe. "The Commissioners". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Garnett wins Kennedy Citizenship Award". USA Today. Associated Press. October 31, 2006. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ "Frank Layden Coaching Record". basketball-reference.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved July 24, 2008.
  7. ↑ "Smith receives NBA's award for community service". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . April 29, 1998. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2008.
  8. ↑ "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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