Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has won the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award for the 2024/25 season, the league announced today in a press release (Twitter links). It’s the second time the 34-year-old has claimed the award, having previously won it with Milwaukee back in ’20/21.
The Sportsmanship Award has been presented annually since ’95/96 and “honors a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.”
Each of the league’s 30 teams nominated one of its players for the award, then a panel of league executives narrows that group to six finalists (one from each division) and current players voted for the winner.
As the full voting results show, Holiday received the most first-place votes and most total points. Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen finished in second place, followed closely by Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith, and Magic forward Franz Wagner rounded out the top six (in that order).
The trophy for the Sportsmanship Award is named after Joe Dumars, the Hall-of-Fame guard who won the inaugural award back in ’95/96. Dumars was recently named the Pelicans’ head of basketball operations after working for the NBA for the past few years.
Holiday has earned numerous team and individual accolades throughout his career. The combo guard has won two NBA championships, two Olympic gold medals with Team USA, is a two-time All-Star, and has earned six All-Defensive nods. He has also been named Teammate of the Year three times. Now he has added a second Sportsmanship Award to his impressive trophy case.