The National Basketball Association's Sportsmanship Award is an annual National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) award given since the 1995–96 NBA season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...

 on the court—ethical behavior, fair play and integrity". It is directly analogous to the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award

Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award

The Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association award given since the league's inaugural season, to the player who most "exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court—ethical behavior, fair play and integrity." This is the same criterion used by the...

, which has been awarded by the NBA's sister league, the WNBA

Women's National Basketball Association

The Women's National Basketball Association is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. It currently is composed of twelve teams. The league was founded on April 24, 1996 as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association...

, since that league's inception in 1997

1997 WNBA Season

-External links:*...

. Both the NBA and WNBA awards are nearly comparable to the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy

The Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, formerly known as the Lady Byng Trophy, is presented each year to the National Hockey League "player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability"...

 of the National Hockey League

National Hockey League

The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 (NHL), although unlike the NHL counterpart, neither award demands excellence of play.

Every year, each of the 30 NBA teams nominates one of its players to compete for this award. From these 30 nominees, six players, one from each NBA division, are selected by a panel as the divisional Sportsmanship Award winners. Finally at the end of the regular season, NBA players cast vote for this award, with eleven points given for each first-place vote, nine for second-place vote, seven points for third, five points for fourth, three points for fifth and one point for each sixth place vote received. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. The winner of this award is presented with the Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars III , nicknamed Joe D, is a retired American basketball player in the NBA, and currently the Detroit Pistons' President of Basketball Operations....

 Trophy, named after the former Detroit Pistons

Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...

 player and the award's inaugural recipient.

Since its inception, the award has been given to 13 different players. Three-time winner Grant Hill

Grant Hill

Grant Hill is the name of:* Grant Hill, American basketball player* Grant Hill , Canadian politician* Grant Hill, San Diego, California, an urban neighboorhood in central San Diego...

 is the only person to have received this honor more than once. Two teams have had multiple players winning the award: the San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs

The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....

 (three players) and the Seattle SuperSonics

Seattle SuperSonics

The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...

 (two players). Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars

Joe Dumars III , nicknamed Joe D, is a retired American basketball player in the NBA, and currently the Detroit Pistons' President of Basketball Operations....

 and David Robinson

David Robinson (basketball)

David Maurice Robinson is a retired American NBA basketball player, who played center for the San Antonio Spurs for his entire NBA career. Based on his prior service as an officer in the United States Navy, Robinson earned the nickname "The Admiral". He and teammate power forward Tim Duncan were...

 are the only award winners to have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Luol Deng

Luol Deng

Luol Deng is a South Sudanese-British professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls and the Great Britain national basketball team. He plays the small forward position.-Early life:...

 is the only foreign NBA player to win the award.

Winners

^	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has received the award

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	References
	*	Guard		Detroit Pistons Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
		Guard		Cleveland Cavaliers Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
		Guard		San Antonio Spurs San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
		Guard		Seattle SuperSonics Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
		Guard		Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
	*	Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		San Antonio Spurs San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
		Guard		San Antonio Spurs San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
	^	Guard		Seattle SuperSonics Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well... /Forward		New Orleans Hornets
	^	Forward/Guard		Orlando Magic Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
	^	Forward		Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
	^	Forward		Chicago Bulls Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
	^ (2)	Forward		Phoenix Suns Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
	^	Guard		Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
	^ (3)	Forward		Phoenix Suns Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
	^	Guard		Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...