Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has won the NBA’s Joe Dumars Trophy for sportsmanship award. It is Holiday’s second time winning the honor, the other being the 2020-21 season, when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday is the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy for winning the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award.
This is the second NBA Sportsmanship Award for Holiday, who also earned the honor in the 2020-21 season with the Milwaukee Bucks. pic.twitter.com/bWmbr6LH5U
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 1, 2025
He was also won the Red Auerbach Award, which is handed out for a player’s “ability to best exemplify the spirit and meaning of what it means to be a Boston Celtic.”
The Sportsmanship Award was introduced during the 1995-96 season and is named after Pistons legendary guard and new New Orleans Pelicans President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars who won the inaugural sportsmanship award that season.
Each NBA team nominated a player to receive the award. Holiday received 134 first place votes. Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen, Dallas’ Kyrie Irving, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Lakers’ Dorian Finney-Smith and Orlando’s Franz Wagner were the other players who received votes.
Brad Stevens said, “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. 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.”
The last time Holiday received this award his team went on to win the championship, so the Celtics can only hope to have that same result this season.
