Winning an NBA title for the first time last season was a milestone for Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks as he put the icing on the cake of a Hall of Fame career. There’s no question that when Kidd finally calls it quits he’ll be considered one of the greatest point guards of all-time, but it hasn’t been just the contributions he’s made on the basketball court that he should be commended, for as he also has made an impact off the floor during his time in the NBA with the Jason Kidd Foundation.
This year the league has awarded Kidd with the NBA Sportsmanship Award for his contributions off the floor with his foundation. As a result, the league will make a $10,000 donation to Kidd’s foundation.
In second place for this award was the Miami Heat’s Shane Battier, followed by Antawn Jamison, Luke Ridnour, Jeremy Lin and Chris Paul. All five of these players will also be awarded with $5,000 to be given to their favorite charity.
Last year the Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry won the award and Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns has been a NBA Sportsmanship winner three times.
The two other awards that have been handed out so far are the Defensive Player of the Year which went to Tyson Chandler of the New York Knicks (first in franchise history) and the Coach of the Year, which was awarded to the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich.
There has been a lot of talk that Los Angeles Lakers center Andrew Bynum might be in the running for the Most Improved Player of the Year, which was awarded to Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves last season.
