NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Kia Motors, Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, announced that for the first time ever, fans will have the opportunity to vote on Twitter to help determine the winner of the Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award. For the past three seasons, fans have been able to vote for the Kia NBA MVP Award via NBA.com/KiaMVPFanVote, and this year the program will expand to include social media voting on Twitter.

Twitter voting will allow fans to tweet a vote for one player each day throughout the voting period. The tweet must include a player’s first and last name, along with hashtag #KiaMVP. Online voting on NBA.com/KiaMVPFanVote will allow fans to submit their votes for MVP by ranking their top five choices. The combined fan vote on Twitter and NBA.com/KiaMVPFanVote will count as one vote, with the remaining 122 votes coming from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada.  Fans can cast their MVP votes on Twitter and NBA.com/KiaMVPFanVote now through April 18.

Additionally, Kia Motors will present a brand new 2014 Sorento LX CUV to the charity of choice of each of five 2012-13 year-end award winners as part of “The Kia NBA Performance Awards.” Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 26 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious year-end honors began in 2008.

As the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, Kia Motors also is giving fans the chance to enter the Kia Motors MVP Fan Vote Sweepstakes by logging on to NBA.com/KiaMVPFanVote.  The grand prize for the sweepstakes is a trip for two to The Finals in June.

The 2012-13 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award will be announced following the conclusion of the 2012-13 regular season.

The 2012-13 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player Award is part of a series of on-court performance awards called “The Kia NBA Performance Awards.” The series, currently in its sixth season, is part of a multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors America and the NBA, and includes five of the league’s most prestigious year-end honors: Most Valuable Player Award, Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man Award, Most Improved Player Award, and Rookie of the Year.  For the first time, the series also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month during the regular season.  Kia Motors is the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA and the Kia Optima is the league’s Official Vehicle.  For more information on “The Kia NBA Performance Awards” visit www.NBA.com/awards.