Grizzlies’ Mike Conley wins 2015-16 NBA Sportsmanship Award

NEW YORK – Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies is the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy presented to the 2015-16 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, the NBA announced today.  Conley, who previously won the award in 2013-14, joins Grant Hill (three) and Jason Kidd (two) as multiple winners since the award’s inception in the 1995-96 season.

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.

Conley received 58 of 327 first-place votes and 2,209 total points from NBA players, who voted on the award for the 12th 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; Kiki VanDeWeghe, NBA Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations; Roger Mason, NBPA Deputy Executive Director; and NBA Cares Ambassadors Jason Collins and Bob Lanier, a Hall of Fame center.

Besides the donation to the Methodist Healthcare Foundation for the Methodist Sickle Cell Center on behalf of Conley, the NBA will make $5,000 donations to the other five divisional winners’ charities of choice: MLSE Foundation (specifically MLSE LaunchPad) for Scola; Gasol Foundation for Gasol; Self Enhancement Inc. for Lillard; Boys & Girls Club of Oakland for Livingston; and Helping Hand Rescue Mission for Korver.

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.

Below are the voting totals for the 2015-16 NBA Sportsmanship Award:

2015-16 NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD VOTING TOTALS

Player, Team                                 1st        2nd       3rd        4th        5th        6th        Points

Mike Conley, Memphis                  58        65        78        51        55        20        2,209

Kyle Korver, Atlanta                       54        71        63        59        53        27        2,155

Pau Gasol, Chicago                         62        67        44        57        44        53        2,063

Damian Lillard, Portland                 69        47        52        60        47        52        2,039

Shaun Livingston, Golden State      37        48        53        51        80        58        1,763

Luis Scola, Toronto                            47        29        37        49        48        117       1,543

 

NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS
1995-96:     Joe Dumars, Detroit
1996-97:     Terrell Brandon, Cleveland
1997-98:     Avery Johnson, San Antonio
1998-99:     Hersey Hawkins, Seattle
1999-00:     Eric Snow, Philadelphia
2000-01:     David Robinson, San Antonio
2001-02:     Steve Smith, San Antonio
2002-03:     Ray Allen, Seattle
2003-04:     P.J. Brown, New Orleans
2004-05:     Grant Hill, Orlando
2005-06:       Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
2006-07:       Luol Deng, Chicago
2007-08:       Grant Hill, Phoenix
2008-09:       Chauncey Billups, Denver
2009-10:       Grant Hill, Phoenix
2010-11:       Stephen Curry, Golden State
2011-12:       Jason Kidd, Dallas
2012-13:       Jason Kidd, New York
2013-14:       Mike Conley, Memphis
2014-15:       Kyle Korver, Atlanta
2015-16:      Mike Conley, Memphis