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J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

{{Short description|National Basketball Association award}}

{{NBA Awards}}

{{Infobox sports award

| name = J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

| image =

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption =

| sport = Basketball

| league = National Basketball Association

| givenfor = Player, coach or staff member who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community

| first = {{NBA Year|1975}}

| mostrecent = 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."{{cite web| title=Pistons G Chauncey Billups wins sportsmanship award| url=https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3383252| access-date=July 2, 2008| work=ESPN.com| archive-date=December 22, 2015| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222144124/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nba&id=3383252| url-status=live}}

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. The award was named in honor of James Walter Kennedy, the second commissioner (then president){{#tag:ref|The official title of the position was NBA President until 1967 when it was changed to NBA Commissioner.{{cite web|url=http://www.nba.com/history/commissioners.html|title=The Commissioners|access-date=July 8, 2008|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|work=NBA.com|author=Mike Monroe|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407114340/http://www.nba.com/history/commissioners.html|archive-date=April 7, 2016|url-status=dead}}|group=lower-alpha}} of the NBA.{{cite web|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|work=NBA.com|title=Snow Named Winner of J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award|url=http://www.nba.com/news/snow_050427.html|date=June 26, 2007|access-date=July 21, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016212911/http://www.nba.com/news/snow_050427.html|archive-date=October 16, 2014|url-status=dead}}

The award was usually given to a person who made a substantial charitable contribution. For example, Kevin Garnett received the award for the {{nbay|2005|app=season}} after donating $1.2 million toward the Hurricane Katrina's relief efforts.{{cite web|work=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|title=Garnett wins Kennedy Citizenship Award|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/twolves/2006-10-31-garnett-kennedy-award_x.htm|date=October 31, 2006|access-date=July 24, 2008|archive-date=October 22, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022000157/http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/twolves/2006-10-31-garnett-kennedy-award_x.htm|url-status=live}}

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 {{nbay|1985|app=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.{{cite web|title=Mutombo wins J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award |publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc |work=NBA.com |access-date=April 23, 2009 |date=April 23, 2009 |url=http://www.nba.com/2009/news/04/23/citizenship.award.nba/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090426052721/http://www.nba.com/2009/news/04/23/citizenship.award.nba/index.html |archive-date=April 26, 2009 }} Frank Layden and Joe O'Toole were the only non-players to win the award. Layden, the {{nbay|1983}} award recipient, was the head coach for the Utah Jazz,{{cite web|work=basketball-reference.com|title=Frank Layden Coaching Record|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/laydefr99c.html|access-date=July 24, 2008|archive-date=July 24, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724012620/http://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/laydefr99c.html|url-status=live}} while O'Toole, the {{nbay|1994}} award recipient, was the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks.{{cite web|work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|title=Smith receives NBA's award for community service|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=%22J.%20Walter%20Kennedy%20Citizenship%20Award%22,%20%22Joe%20O%27Toole%22&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=(%22J.%20Walter%20Kennedy%20Citizenship%20Award%22,%20%22Joe%20O%27Toole%22)&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no|date=April 29, 1998|access-date=July 22, 2008|archive-date=April 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430104826/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?s_hidethis=no&p_product=AT&p_theme=at&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=%22J.%20Walter%20Kennedy%20Citizenship%20Award%22%2C%20%22Joe%20O%27Toole%22&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22J.%20Walter%20Kennedy%20Citizenship%20Award%22%2C%20%22Joe%20O%27Toole%22%29&xcal_numdocs=20&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date%3AD&xcal_useweights=no|url-status=live}}

Winners

Image:Lipofsky-Dikembe Mutombo.jpg

Image:Magic Lipofsky.jpg

Image:LeBron James (15847318851).jpg

Image:Stephen Curry close up.jpg

class="wikitable"
style="background-color:#CFECEC; width:6em"|^

|Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

style="background-color:#FFFF99; width:6em"|*

|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

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" "summary="Season (sortable), Winner (sortable), Nationality (sortable) and Team (sortable)"
scope="col"| Season

!scope="col"| Winner

!scope="col"| Nationality

!scope="col"| Team

{{nbay|1974}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Wes|Unseld}}*

|{{USA}}

|Washington Bullets

{{nbay|1975}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Slick|Watts}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Seattle SuperSonics

{{nbay|1976}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Dave|Bing}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Washington Bullets (2)

{{nbay|1977}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Bob|Lanier}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Detroit Pistons

{{nbay|1978}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Calvin|Murphy}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Houston Rockets

{{nbay|1979}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Austin|Carr}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Cleveland Cavaliers

{{nbay|1980}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Mike|Glenn}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|New York Knicks

{{nbay|1981}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Kent|Benson}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Detroit Pistons (2)

{{nbay|1982}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Julius|Erving}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Philadelphia 76ers

{{nbay|1983}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Frank|Layden}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Utah Jazz

{{nbay|1984}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Dan|Issel}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Denver Nuggets

rowspan=2|{{nbay|1985}}{{#tag:ref|Denotes seasons in which joint winners were named|group=lower-alpha|name=note_b}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Michael|Cooper}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Los Angeles Lakers

scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Rory|Sparrow}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|New York Knicks (2)

{{nbay|1986}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Isiah|Thomas}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Detroit Pistons (3)

{{nbay|1987}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Alex|English}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Denver Nuggets (2)

{{nbay|1988}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Thurl|Bailey}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Utah Jazz (2)

{{nbay|1989}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Doc|Rivers}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Atlanta Hawks

{{nbay|1990}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Kevin|Johnson|dab=basketball}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Phoenix Suns

{{nbay|1991}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Magic|Johnson}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Los Angeles Lakers (2)

{{nbay|1992}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Terry|Porter}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Portland Trail Blazers

{{nbay|1993}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Joe|Dumars}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Detroit Pistons (4)

{{nbay|1994}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Joe|O'Toole|dab=athletic trainer}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Atlanta Hawks (2)

{{nbay|1995}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Chris|Dudley}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Portland Trail Blazers (2)

{{nbay|1996}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|P. J.|Brown}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Miami Heat

{{nbay|1997}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Steve|Smith|dab=basketball}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Atlanta Hawks (3)

{{nbay|1998}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Brian|Grant}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Portland Trail Blazers (3)

{{nbay|1999|trunc=y}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Vlade|Divac}}*

|{{FR-YUG}}

|Sacramento Kings

{{nbay|2000}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Dikembe|Mutombo}}*

|{{flag|Democratic Republic of the Congo|1997}}

|Philadelphia 76ers (2)

{{nbay|2001}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Alonzo|Mourning}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Miami Heat (2)

{{nbay|2002}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|David|Robinson|dab=basketball}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|San Antonio Spurs

{{nbay|2003}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Reggie|Miller}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Indiana Pacers

{{nbay|2004}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Eric|Snow}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Cleveland Cavaliers (2)

{{nbay|2005}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99"| {{sortname|Kevin|Garnett}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Minnesota Timberwolves

{{nbay|2006}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Steve|Nash}}*

|{{CAN}}

|Phoenix Suns (2)

{{nbay|2007}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Chauncey|Billups}}*

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Detroit Pistons (5)

{{nbay|2008}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Dikembe|Mutombo}}* (2)

|{{flagu|Democratic Republic of the Congo}}

|Houston Rockets (2)

{{nbay|2009}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Samuel|Dalembert}}

|{{flagu|Canada}}

|Philadelphia 76ers (3)

{{nbay|2010}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Ron|Artest|Metta Sandiford-Artest}}{{#tag:ref|Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace on September 16, 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/16/sports/basketball/AP-BKN-Artest-Name-Change.html|title=Artest's Name Change to Metta World Peace Approved|access-date=September 16, 2011|date=September 16, 2011|work=The New York Times|archive-date=December 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217042028/https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/09/16/sports/basketball/AP-BKN-Artest-Name-Change.html|url-status=live}}|group=lower-alpha}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Los Angeles Lakers (3)

{{nbay|2011}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFFF99;"| {{sortname|Pau|Gasol}}*

|{{ESP}}

|Los Angeles Lakers (4)

{{nbay|2012}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Kenneth|Faried}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Denver Nuggets (3)

{{nbay|2013}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Luol|Deng}}

|{{GBR}}

|Cleveland Cavaliers (3)

{{nbay|2014}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Joakim|Noah}}

|{{FRA}}

|Chicago Bulls

{{nbay|2015}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|Wayne|Ellington}}

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Brooklyn Nets

{{nbay|2016}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| {{sortname|LeBron|James}}^

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Cleveland Cavaliers (4)

{{nbay|2017}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:transparent;"| {{sortname|J.J.|Barea}}

|{{PUR}}

|Dallas Mavericks

{{nbay|2018}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| {{sortname|Damian|Lillard}}^

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Portland Trail Blazers (4)

{{nbay|2019}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| {{sortname|Malcolm|Brogdon}}^

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Indiana Pacers (2)

{{nbay|2022}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| {{sortname|Stephen|Curry}}^

|{{flagu|United States}}

|Golden State Warriors

{{nbay|2023}}

!scope="row" style="background-color:#CFECEC"| {{sortname|CJ|McCollum}}^

|{{flagu|United States}}

|New Orleans Pelicans

Teams

class="wikitable"
AwardsTeamsYears
5

|Detroit Pistons

|{{nbay|1977|end}}, {{nbay|1981|end}}, {{nbay|1986|end}}, {{nbay|1993|end}}, {{nbay|2007|end}}

rowspan=3|4

|Cleveland Cavaliers

|{{nbay|1979|end}}, {{nbay|2004|end}}, {{nbay|2013|end}}, {{nbay|2016|end}}

Los Angeles Lakers

|{{nbay|1985|end}}, {{nbay|1991|end}}, {{nbay|2010|end}}, {{nbay|2011|end}}

Portland Trail Blazers

|{{nbay|1992|end}}, {{nbay|1995|end}}, {{nbay|1998|end}}, {{nbay|2018|end}}

rowspan=3|3

|Atlanta Hawks

|{{nbay|1989|end}}, {{nbay|1994|end}}, {{nbay|1997|end}}

Denver Nuggets

|{{nbay|1984|end}}, {{nbay|1987|end}}, {{nbay|2012|end}}

Philadelphia 76ers

|{{nbay|1982|end}}, {{nbay|2000|end}}, {{nbay|2009|end}}

rowspan=7|2

|Houston Rockets

|{{nbay|1978|end}}, {{nbay|2008|end}}

Indiana Pacers

|{{nbay|2003|end}}, {{nbay|2019|end}}

Miami Heat

|{{nbay|1996|end}}, {{nbay|2001|end}}

New York Knicks

|{{nbay|1980|end}}, {{nbay|1985|end}}

Phoenix Suns

|{{nbay|1990|end}}, {{nbay|2006|end}}

Utah Jazz

|{{nbay|1983|end}}, {{nbay|1988|end}}

Washington Wizards / Washington Bullets

|{{nbay|1974|end}}, {{nbay|1976|end}}

rowspan=9|1

|Brooklyn Nets

|{{nbay|2015|end}}

Chicago Bulls

|{{nbay|2014|end}}

Dallas Mavericks

|{{nbay|2017|end}}

Golden State Warriors

|{{nbay|2022|end}}

Minnesota Timberwolves

|{{nbay|2005|end}}

New Orleans Pelicans

|{{nbay|2023|end}}

Sacramento Kings

|{{nbay|1999|end}}

San Antonio Spurs

|{{nbay|2002|end}}

Oklahoma City Thunder / Seattle SuperSonics

|{{nbay|1975|end}}

rowspan="8" |0

|Los Angeles Clippers

| rowspan="8" |None

Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Hornets
Memphis Grizzlies
Toronto Raptors
Orlando Magic

See also

Notes

{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

References

;General

{{Refbegin}}

  • {{cite web|title=Chauncey Billups Wins J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award|url=http://www.nba.com/news/billups_citizenship_080505.html|access-date=July 21, 2008|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|work=NBA.com|date=May 5, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926220543/http://www.nba.com/news/billups_citizenship_080505.html|archive-date=September 26, 2013|url-status=dead}}
  • {{cite web|title=J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award|url=http://www.nba.com/history/awards_citizenship.html|access-date=July 24, 2008|publisher=Turner Sports Interactive, Inc|work=NBA.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119021210/http://www.nba.com/history/awards_citizenship.html|archive-date=November 19, 2010|url-status=dead}}

{{Refend}}

;Specific

{{Reflist}}

{{J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award}}

{{featured list}}

Category:NBA awards

Category:NBA lists

Category:Awards established in 1975

Category:1975 establishments in the United States

Category:Humanitarian and service awards