J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award
The J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since 1975 to a player, coach, or staff member who shows "outstanding service and dedication to the community." The award is named in honor of James Walter Kennedy, the second commissioner of the NBA. The winner is selected by the Pro Basketball Writers Association. The PBWA represents writers for newspapers, magazines and internet services who cover the NBA on a regular basis. Members of the PBWA nominate players for the award, and then a vote is taken by approximately 150 PBWA members. The person with the highest point total wins the award. The award is usually given to a person who made a substantial charitable contribution. For instance, Kevin Garnett received the award in after donating $1.2 million toward the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 34 different people. Only one season had joint winners—Michael Cooper and Rory Sparrow in the. Vlade Divac of Yugoslavia, Dikembe Mutombo of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pau Gasol of Spain, Canadians Steve Nash, Samuel Dalembert, and Luol Deng of the United Kingdom are the only winners who were not born in the United States. J. J. Barea, the 2018 winner, was born in Puerto Rico, a territory whose native-born residents are U.S. citizens by birth. Mutombo is also the only player to win the award twice. Frank Layden and Joe O'Toole were the only non-players to win the award. Layden, the award recipient, was the head coach for the Utah Jazz, while O'Toole, the award recipient, was the athletic trainer for the Atlanta Hawks. In 2017-18 season the award was given to Puerto Rican Player JJ Barea of the Dallas Mavericks.
Winners
| ^ | Denotes player who is still active in the NBA |
| * | Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| Player | Denotes the number of times the player has received the award |
| Season | Winner | Nationality | Team |
| * | Washington Bullets | ||
| United States | Seattle SuperSonics | ||
| * | United States | Washington Bullets | |
| * | United States | Detroit Pistons | |
| * | United States | Houston Rockets | |
| United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
| United States | New York Knicks | ||
| United States | Detroit Pistons | ||
| * | United States | Philadelphia 76ers | |
| United States | Utah Jazz | ||
| * | United States | Denver Nuggets | |
| United States | Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| United States | New York Knicks | ||
| * | United States | Detroit Pistons | |
| * | United States | Denver Nuggets | |
| United States | Utah Jazz | ||
| United States | Atlanta Hawks | ||
| United States | Phoenix Suns | ||
| * | United States | Los Angeles Lakers | |
| United States | Portland Trail Blazers | ||
| * | United States | Detroit Pistons | |
| United States | Atlanta Hawks | ||
| United States | Portland Trail Blazers | ||
| United States | Miami Heat | ||
| United States | Atlanta Hawks | ||
| United States | Portland Trail Blazers | ||
| * | Sacramento Kings | ||
| * | Philadelphia 76ers | ||
| * | United States | Miami Heat | |
| * | United States | San Antonio Spurs | |
| * | United States | Indiana Pacers | |
| United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
| * | United States | Minnesota Timberwolves | |
| * | Phoenix Suns | ||
| United States | Detroit Pistons | ||
| * | Democratic Republic of the Congo | Houston Rockets | |
| Canada | Philadelphia 76ers | ||
| United States | Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| ^ | Los Angeles Lakers | ||
| ^ | United States | Denver Nuggets | |
| ^ | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||
| ^ | Chicago Bulls | ||
| ^ | United States | Brooklyn Nets | |
| ^ | United States | Cleveland Cavaliers | |
| ^ | Dallas Mavericks | ||
| ^ | United States | Portland Trail Blazers |