Jrue Holiday was announced Thursday as the winner of the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award.
The veteran guard is the first Celtics player to receive the award, which was conceived in 1996 to honor “the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court,” and the league’s fifth multi-time honoree, with his first coming as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2020-21.
The Celtics nominated Holiday for the award, with league executives choosing six finalists and current NBA players voting on the winner. Holiday received 134 out of 394 first-place votes and finished with more than 500 more total voting points than runner-up Jarrett Allen of Cleveland.
“In my experience, some of the best competitors are those who pair a quiet confidence with humility, show respect for the competition with their own preparation and work, and have the stamina to navigate the ups and downs of a season with grit and perspective,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. “There is no better example of this than Jrue. He is the ultimate teammate and sets a great example for those striving to compete with integrity. His game does his talking, and his impact, on and off the court, goes well beyond his game.”
Holiday, who’s also won the Tywman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award three times, saw his numbers diminish this season (11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.1 steals per game). Injuries prevented him from qualifying for the NBA’s All-Defensive team, which he made in six of the previous seven years. Celtics coaches and players regularly rave about his impact, however.
“What Jrue does for us, it’s elite,” Al Horford said after Boston eliminated the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday. “The impact that he has on our team, you can’t measure it.”
Holiday also committed the fewest fouls this season (1.6 per game) of any Celtics starter.
Boston will hope to get the 34-year-old back for the Eastern Conference semifinals after he missed the final three games against Orlando with a hamstring strain.
Originally Published: