Brand Honored With 2003-04 NBA Sportsmanship Award

Posted: March 30th, 2004

Brand was named the 2003-04 Pacific Division NBA Sportsmanship Award winner on Tuesday.

Clippers Forward Elton Brand joined Memphis’ Shane Battier, New Orleans’ P.J. Brown and New Jersey’s Kerry Kittles as the divisional winners selected by a five-member panel of former players for the 2003-04 NBA Sportsmanship Award.

The NBA Sportsmanship Award, designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court, will be voted on by NBA players for the first time since its inception. The winner will be announced after the regular season.

The 2003-04 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner will be presented with the Joe Dumars Trophy, named after the 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 Walt Frazier, Mike Glenn, Tommy Heinsohn, Eddie Johnson and Gil McGregor, selected the four divisional winners from a pool of 29 team nominees. Each team nominated one of its own 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 Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA grassroots youth basketball program.

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

YEAR WINNER TEAM 1995-96 Joe Dumars Detroit 1996-97 Terrell Brandon Cleveland 1997-98 Avery Johnson San Antonio 1998-99 Hersey Hawkins Seattle 1999-00 Eric Snow Philadelphia 2000-01 David Robinson San Antonio 2001-02 Steve Smith San Antonio 2002-03 Ray Allen Milwaukee