L.A. Clippers’ Elton Brand Wins NBA Sportsmanship Award

Originally presented following the 1995-96 season, the Sportsmanship Award honors a player who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship on the court -- ethical behavior, fair play and integrity. The trophy is named for former Detroit Pistons guard and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the award’s first recipient.

Brand, a 2006 NBA All-Star and the Clippers’ leading scorer, was one of six divisional winners which included Chicago’s Luol Deng, Houston’s Yao Ming, Miami’s Shaquille O'Neal, New Jersey’s Jacque Vaughn and Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko.

The NBA will donate another $10,000 each to the divisional winners’ charities of choice: Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on behalf of Deng; Special Olympics Texas on Yao’s behalf; The Odessa Chambliss Foundation on behalf of O’Neal; Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Douglas County (Lawrence, KS) on behalf of Vaughn; and the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City on Kirilenko’s behalf.

For the second consecutive year, NBA players voted on this award, with eleven points given for each first-place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven points for third, five points for fourth, three points for fifth and one point for each sixth place vote received. Each team nominated one of its own players for this award, then former NBA players John Crotty, John Celestand, Eddie Johnson, Steve Mix and Kenny Smith selected the six divisional winners.

Following is a list of this year’s voting totals and all-time winners of the NBA Sportsmanship Award:

2005-06 NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD VOTING TOTALS

ALL-TIME NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD WINNERS