On May 17, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced that 76ers guard Maxey won the 2023-24 NBA Sportsmanship Award, and he was awarded the Joe Dumas Trophy at home. Maxey won the award for the first time in his career, and he is only the second player in 76ers history to do so, starting with Eric Snow in the 1999-00 season.
Since the award was set up in the 1995-96 season, 18 different players have won the award. Conley is a four-time winner, the most of any player with the award, Hill has three, Walker and Kidd have two each. Joe Dumas was the first winner, and this trophy was also named the Joe Dumas Trophy.
Each NBA team nominates one player to compete for the NBA Sportsmanship Award. The league's executive panel will select one finalist from each of the NBA's six divisions from the list of nominees. The final winner is then selected by active NBA players from a list of six finalists.
It has been a rewarding year for Maxi personally. He was named an All-Star for the first time in his career, was named the Most Improved Player of the Year, and now has a sportsmanship award, and Maxey is expected to get a big contract this summer. When he received the trophy at home, Maxi was smiling and happy.
The voting rules are that the first ballot will be awarded 11 points, the second ballot will be 9 points, the third ballot will be 7 points, the fourth ballot will be 5 points, the fifth ballot will be 3 points, and the sixth ballot will be 1 point. The award is awarded to the player with the highest final score. The full voting results for the 2023-24 Sportsmanship Awards are as follows –
Maxi received 91 first votes, 80 second votes, 64 third votes, 36 fourth votes, 51 fifth votes, and 43 sixth votes, accumulating 2,545 points. In second to sixth place are Love, Allen, Alexander, Harrison Barnes and Trey Jones.
The winners of the Sportsmanship Award in the last decade are as follows –
2014-15: Korver (Eagles)
2015-16: Conley (Grizzlies)
2016-17: Walker (Hornets)
2017-18: Walker (Hornets)
2018-19: Conley (Grizzlies)
2019-20: Carter (Hawks)
2020-21: Holiday (Bucks)
2021-22: Mills (Nets)
2022-23: Conley (Timberwolves)
2023-24: Maxey (76ers)