List of National Basketball Association awards

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National Basketball Association awards and honors
Championship
Individual awards
Honors

The National Basketball Association (NBA) presents 12 annual awards to recognize its teams, players, and coaches for their accomplishments. This does not include the NBA championship trophy which is given to the winning team of the NBA Finals.

The NBA's championship trophy made its first appearance after the inaugural NBA Finals in 1947. In 1964, it was named after Walter A. Brown who was instrumental in merging the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League into the NBA.[1][2] The Brown Trophy design remained the same until 1977 when the current trophy design was first introduced although it retained the Walter A. Brown title.[3] In 1984, the trophy was renamed to honor former NBA commissioner Larry O'Brien.[3][4][5]

The NBA's first individual awards were the Rookie of the Year and the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, both of which were introduced in 1953.[6][7] The only individual award of the postseason is the Bill Russell Finals MVP. The Executive of the Year is the only award not presented by the NBA. It is named annually by Sporting News but is officially recognized by the NBA.[8]

Each individual award, with the exception of the Finals MVP, is awarded at the end of the regular season while the NBA Playoffs are ongoing. This is different from the other major professional sports leagues where they hand out individual awards after their postseasons have concluded.

Aside from these annual awards, the league also has weekly and monthly honors during the regular season for its players and coaches.

Team trophies[edit]

Image Award Created Description Most recent winner Notes
Larry O'Brien Trophy 1977 The NBA's championship trophy; awarded to the winning team of the NBA Finals. Cleveland Cavaliers [3][4]
Walter A. Brown Trophy 1947 The NBA's first championship trophy which was awarded to the winning team of the NBA Finals until it was replaced with the Larry O'Brien Trophy. N/A; trophy retired after 1977 [5]

Honors[edit]

Honor Created Description Notes
All-NBA Team 1947 Three 5-player teams (a first, second, and third team) composed of the best players in the league during the regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. [9]
All-Rookie Team 1963 Two 5-player teams (a first and second team) composed of the top rookies during the regular season as voted by NBA head coaches. The coaches are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. [10]
All-Defensive Team 1969 Two 5-player teams (a first and second team) composed of the best defensive players in the league during the regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. [11]

Individual awards[edit]

the trophy at a championship parade
Bill Russell Finals Most Valuable Player Trophy
Award Created Description Most recent winner(s) Notes
All-Star Game MVP 1951 Awarded to the best performing player of the annual NBA All-Star Game as voted by a panel of media members. Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) (2x) [12]
Rookie of the Year
(Eddie Gottlieb Trophy)		 1953 Awarded to the top rookie of the NBA regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada. Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves) [7]
Most Valuable Player
(Maurice Podoloff Trophy)		 1956 Awarded to the best performing player of the NBA regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters and media members. Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors) (2x) [13]
Coach of the Year
(Red Auerbach Trophy)		 1963 Awarded to the best coach of the NBA regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters and media members. Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) [14]
NBA Finals Most Valuable Player
(Bill Russell Trophy)		 1969 Named after Bill Russell;[15] awarded to the best performing player of the NBA Finals as voted by a panel of nine media members.[a] LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) [16]
Executive of the Year 1973 Awarded to the NBA's top front office executive as voted by the executives from the league's 30 teams. R.C. Buford (San Antonio Spurs) (2x) [17]
Citizenship Award
(J. Walter Kennedy Trophy)		 1975 Named after J. Walter Kennedy; awarded to a team member who showed "great service and dedication to the community" as voted by the PBWA. Wayne Ellington (Brooklyn Nets) [18]
Defensive Player of the Year 1983 Awarded to the top defensive player of the NBA regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada. Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs) (2x) [19]
Sixth Man of the Year 1983 Awarded to the best performing player as a substitute (or sixth man) during the NBA regular season as voted by a panel of sportswriters. Jamal Crawford (Los Angeles Clippers) (3x) [20]
Most Improved Player 1986 Awarded to the most improved player in the NBA as voted by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States and Canada. C.J. McCollum (Portland Trail Blazers) [21]
Sportsmanship Award
(Joe Dumars Trophy)		 1996 Awarded to the player who most displays "the ideals of sportsmanship on the court with ethical behavior, fair play and integrity" as voted by NBA players. Mike Conley (Memphis Grizzlies) (2x) [22]
Teammate of the Year
(Twyman–Stokes Trophy)		 2013 Awarded to the "ideal teammate" who exemplifies "selfless play and commitment and dedication to his team" as voted by NBA players. Vince Carter (Memphis Grizzlies) [23]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  • a Though the award winner is usually determined by nine votes, fans balloting on NBA.com accounted for the tenth vote in at least one NBA Finals.[24][25]

References[edit]

General
Specific
  1. ^ "Walter A. Brown". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved July 27, 2008. 
  2. ^ "NBA". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved July 27, 2008. 
  3. ^ a b c "Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  4. ^ a b "The trophies". St. Petersburg Times. April 10, 2003. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  5. ^ a b "NBA Legends Launch 2005 NBA Legends Tour: Destination Finals". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  6. ^ "All-Star Game: Year-by-Year Results". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  7. ^ a b "Rookie of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  8. ^ "Reports: Baylor wins NBA executive of the year". ESPN. May 14, 2006. Retrieved July 24, 2008. 
  9. ^ "MVP Nash Highlights All-NBA First Team". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 17, 2006. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  10. ^ "Durant, Horford Headline T-Mobile All-Rookie Team". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 14, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  11. ^ "Kobe, Garnett Headline All-Defensive Team". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 12, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008. 
  12. ^ "NBA All-Star Game MVPs". NBA.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2013. 
  13. ^ "NBA MVPs". basketball-reference.com. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2013. 
  14. ^ "Coach of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  15. ^ "The Finals MVP to Receive Bill Russell MVP Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. February 14, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009. 
  16. ^ "Finals Most Valuable Player". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  17. ^ "Spurs' Buford named NBA Executive of Year". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-05-09. 
  18. ^ "Nets' Ellington honored for service to community". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-05-09. 
  19. ^ "Defensive of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved July 26, 2008. 
  20. ^ "Sixth Man of the Year". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
  21. ^ Release, Official. "Blazers' McCollum named Kia NBA Most Improved Player". NBA.com. Retrieved 2016-04-24. 
  22. ^ "Grizzlies' Conley wins sportsmanship award". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2016-04-24. 
  23. ^ "Vince Carter wins 2015-16 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. June 8, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016. 
  24. ^ Mike Bresnahan (June 19, 2008). "Numbers from final game tell bad tale for Lakers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 
  25. ^ Johnny Ludden (June 25, 2005). "MVP voting as close as the series". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved July 15, 2008. 
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