Jrue Holiday became the first Celtic player in franchise history to win the NBA Sportsmanship Award on Thursday. It’s the second time that Holiday has won the award, also doing so as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks during the 2020-21 season.
The NBA Sportsmanship Award was created during the 1995-96 season and honors the player who “best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.” The trophy for the award is named after Joe Dumars who won the inaugural Sportsmanship Award in 1996.
Each team nominates a player for the award, and league executives narrow down those 30 players to six finalists, one from each division. From there, NBA players vote on the winners. Holiday received 134 1st place votes and 3,046 total points in voting. He topped five other finalists, including Jarrett Allen, Kyrie Irving, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dorian Finney-Smith and Franz Wagner.
Holiday enjoys an impressive list of two-time sportsmanship award winners including Mike Conley, Grant Hill, Jason Kidd and former Celtic Kemba Walker.
“In my experience, some of the best competitors are those who pair a quiet confidence with humility, show respect for the competition with their own preparation and work, and have the stamina to navigate the ups and downs of a season with grit and perspective,” Brad Stevens said in a team release. “There is no better example of this than Jrue. He is the ultimate teammate and sets a great example for those striving to compete with integrity. His game does his talking, and his impact, on and off the court, goes well beyond his game.”
Holiday is currently recovering from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for the past three playoff games but he averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists with Boston this season. The award adds to a long list of accomplishments during Holiday’s career. Holiday has also won the NBA’s Teammate of the Year award three times.
- BETTING: The Celtics are +200 on Caesars to win the 2025 NBA Finals. If you’re a new sports bettor, be sure to check out our Massachusetts beginner’s guide.
