# J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

National Basketball Association awards and honors :
Team awards :
Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy
Bob Cousy Trophy
Maurice Podoloff Trophy
Wayne Embry Trophy
Willis Reed Trophy
Chuck Cooper Trophy
Walter A. Brown Trophy (defunct)
Oscar Robertson Trophy
Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton Trophy
Earl Lloyd Trophy
Sam Jones Trophy
NBA Cup :
Individual awards :
All-Star Game MVP
Clutch Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Comeback Player of the Year (defunct)
Community Assist Award
Defensive Player of the Year
Sixth Man of the Year
Finals MVP
Hustle Award
J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
IBM Award (defunct)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion
Most Improved Player
Most Valuable Player
Rookie of the Year
Executive of the Year
Conference Finals MVP
Sportsmanship Award
Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award :
Honors :
All-NBA Team
All-Rookie Team
All-Defensive Team :
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The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player, coach, or staff member who showed "outstanding service and dedication to the community."
The winner was selected by the Pro Basketball Writers Association (PBWA), which represents writers for newspapers, magazines and internet services who cover the NBA on a regular basis. Members of the PBWA nominate players for the award, and then a vote was taken by approximately 150 PBWA members. The person with the highest point total wins the award. The award was named in honor of James Walter Kennedy, the second commissioner (then president) of the NBA.
The award was usually given to a person who made a substantial charitable contribution. For example, Kevin Garnett received the award for the 2005–06 season after donating $1.2 million toward the Hurricane Katrina's relief efforts.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 34 different people. Only one season had joint winners—Michael Cooper and Rory Sparrow in the 1985–86 season. Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia (now Serbia), Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pau Gasol of Spain, Canadians Steve Nash (born in South Africa), Samuel Dalembert (born in Haiti), and Luol Deng of the United Kingdom (born in South Sudan) are the only winners who were not born in the United States. J. J. Barea, the 2018 winner, was born in Puerto Rico, a territory whose native-born residents are U.S. citizens by birth. Mutombo is also the only player to win the award twice. Frank Layden and Joe O'Toole were the only non-players to win the award. Layden, the 1983–84 award recipient, was the head coach for the Utah Jazz, while O'Toole, the 1994–95 award recipient, was the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks.

## Winners

| ^ | Denotes player who is still active in the NBA |
| * | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Player (#) | Denotes the number of times the player has received the award |
| Team (#) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
| Season | Winner | Nationality | Team |
| 1974–75 | Wes Unseld* | United States | Washington Bullets |
| 1975–76 | Slick Watts | United States | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1976–77 | Dave Bing* | United States | Washington Bullets (2) |
| 1977–78 | Bob Lanier* | United States | Detroit Pistons |
| 1978–79 | Calvin Murphy* | United States | Houston Rockets |
| 1979–80 | Austin Carr | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1980–81 | Mike Glenn | United States | New York Knicks |
| 1981–82 | Kent Benson | United States | Detroit Pistons (2) |
| 1982–83 | Julius Erving* | United States | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1983–84 | Frank Layden | United States | Utah Jazz |
| 1984–85 | Dan Issel* | United States | Denver Nuggets |
| 1985–86 | Michael Cooper* | United States | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1985–86 | Rory Sparrow | United States | New York Knicks (2) |
| 1986–87 | Isiah Thomas* | United States | Detroit Pistons (3) |
| 1987–88 | Alex English* | United States | Denver Nuggets (2) |
| 1988–89 | Thurl Bailey | United States | Utah Jazz (2) |
| 1989–90 | Doc Rivers | United States | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1990–91 | Kevin Johnson | United States | Phoenix Suns |
| 1991–92 | Magic Johnson* | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (2) |
| 1992–93 | Terry Porter | United States | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1993–94 | Joe Dumars* | United States | Detroit Pistons (4) |
| 1994–95 | Joe O'Toole | United States | Atlanta Hawks (2) |
| 1995–96 | Chris Dudley | United States | Portland Trail Blazers (2) |
| 1996–97 | P. J. Brown | United States | Miami Heat |
| 1997–98 | Steve Smith | United States | Atlanta Hawks (3) |
| 1998–99 | Brian Grant | United States | Portland Trail Blazers (3) |
| 1999–00 | Vlade Divac* | Yugoslavia | Sacramento Kings |
| 2000–01 | Dikembe Mutombo* | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Philadelphia 76ers (2) |
| 2001–02 | Alonzo Mourning* | United States | Miami Heat (2) |
| 2002–03 | David Robinson* | United States | San Antonio Spurs |
| 2003–04 | Reggie Miller* | United States | Indiana Pacers |
| 2004–05 | Eric Snow | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers (2) |
| 2005–06 | Kevin Garnett* | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| 2006–07 | Steve Nash* | Canada | Phoenix Suns (2) |
| 2007–08 | Chauncey Billups* | United States | Detroit Pistons (5) |
| 2008–09 | Dikembe Mutombo* (2) | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Houston Rockets (2) |
| 2009–10 | Samuel Dalembert | Canada | Philadelphia 76ers (3) |
| 2010–11 | Ron Artest | United States | Los Angeles Lakers (3) |
| 2011–12 | Pau Gasol* | Spain | Los Angeles Lakers (4) |
| 2012–13 | Kenneth Faried | United States | Denver Nuggets (3) |
| 2013–14 | Luol Deng | United Kingdom | Cleveland Cavaliers (3) |
| 2014–15 | Joakim Noah | France | Chicago Bulls |
| 2015–16 | Wayne Ellington | United States | Brooklyn Nets |
| 2016–17 | LeBron James^ | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers (4) |
| 2017–18 | J.J. Barea | Puerto Rico | Dallas Mavericks |
| 2018–19 | Damian Lillard^ | United States | Portland Trail Blazers (4) |
| 2019–20 | Malcolm Brogdon^ | United States | Indiana Pacers (2) |
| 2022–23 | Stephen Curry^ | United States | Golden State Warriors |
| 2023–24 | CJ McCollum^ | United States | New Orleans Pelicans |

## Teams

| Awards | Teams | Years |
| 5 | Detroit Pistons | 1978, 1982, 1987, 1994, 2008 |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1980, 2005, 2014, 2017 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Lakers | 1986, 1992, 2011, 2012 |
| 4 | Portland Trail Blazers | 1993, 1996, 1999, 2019 |
| 3 | Atlanta Hawks | 1990, 1995, 1998 |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets | 1985, 1988, 2013 |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 1983, 2001, 2010 |
| 2 | Houston Rockets | 1979, 2009 |
| 2 | Indiana Pacers | 2004, 2020 |
| 2 | Miami Heat | 1997, 2002 |
| 2 | New York Knicks | 1981, 1986 |
| 2 | Phoenix Suns | 1991, 2007 |
| 2 | Utah Jazz | 1984, 1989 |
| 2 | Washington Wizards / Washington Bullets | 1975, 1977 |
| 1 | Brooklyn Nets | 2016 |
| 1 | Chicago Bulls | 2015 |
| 1 | Dallas Mavericks | 2018 |
| 1 | Golden State Warriors | 2023 |
| 1 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2006 |
| 1 | New Orleans Pelicans | 2024 |
| 1 | Sacramento Kings | 2000 |
| 1 | San Antonio Spurs | 2003 |
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder / Seattle SuperSonics | 1976 |
| 0 | Los Angeles Clippers | None |
| 0 | Milwaukee Bucks | None |
| 0 | Boston Celtics | None |
| 0 | Charlotte Hornets | None |
| 0 | Memphis Grizzlies | None |
| 0 | Toronto Raptors | None |
| 0 | Orlando Magic | None |