Six divisional winners for Sportsmanship Award announced

Boston's Ray Allen, Denver's Chauncey Billups, Detroit's Antonio McDyess, Golden State's Ronny Turiaf, San Antonio's Michael Finley and Washington's Antawn Jamison were selected by a seven-member panel of former players as divisional winners for the 2008-09 NBA Sportsmanship Award .

The NBA Sportsmanship Award, designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, is voted on by NBA players. The NBA will announce the winner after the regular season.

The 2008-09 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner will be presented with the Joe Dumars Trophy, named after the Hall of Famer and former Detroit Pistons great who played 14 seasons in the NBA and was the recipient of the inaugural NBA Sportsmanship Award in 1996. The six-time All-Star was selected in honor of his distinguished and dignified career and for symbolizing the tradition the NBA wants to recognize with this award.

Former NBA players Mike Bantom, John Crotty, Eddie Johnson, Jalen Rose, Tom "Satch" Sanders, Kenny Smith and Chris Webber selected the six divisional winners from a pool of 30 team nominees. Each team nominated one of its players for this award.

The annual award reflects the ideals of sportsmanship -- ethical behavior, fair play and integrity -- in amateur and professional basketball, a key focus of the league's NBA Cares program efforts.

Following is a list of the all-time winners of the NBA Sportsmanship award:

Past NBA Sportsmanship Award Winners
Inaugural (1996): Joe Dumars, Detroit
1996-97: Terrell Brandon, Cleveland
1997-98: Avery Johnson, San Antonio
1998-99: Hersey Hawkins, Seattle
1999-2000: Eric Snow, Philadelphia
2000-01: David Robinson, San Antonio
2001-02: Steve Smith, San Antonio
2002-03: Ray Allen, Seattle
2003-04: P.J. Brown, New Orleans
2004-05: Grant Hill, Orlando
2005-06: Elton Brand, Los Angeles Clippers
2006-07: Luol Deng, Chicago
2007-08: Grant Hill, Phoenix Suns