LORETTO, Pa. – Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki was named the winner of the NBA's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award on Monday night at the NBA Awards.
 
Nowitzki was chosen through a vote of 300 current NBA players.  The award, named after Jack Twyman and Saint Francis legend Maurice Stokes, recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership on and off the court as a mentor or role model, as well as commitment and dedication to the team.
 
The 19-year NBA veteran is the fifth winner of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, joining Detroit's Chauncey Billups (2012-13), Miami's Shane Battier (2013-14), San Antonio's Tim Duncan (2014-15) and Memphis' Vince Carter (2015-16).
 
The 13-time All-Star and 2006-07 MVP ranks sixth all-time in the NBA, and leads all active players, in scoring (30,260).  He is also seventh all-time in games played (1,394), ninth in field goals made (10,688) and 14th in three-pointers made (1,780).  Nowitzki led the Mavericks to an NBA Title in 2010-11.
 
The award is named after Twyman and Stokes, former teammates with the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals. After Stokes suffered an in-game injury that led to his paralysis, Twyman became his legal guardian for the rest of Stokes' life. Both men are members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
 
To learn more about the friendship between the two men, click here for SFU professor Dr. Pat Farabaugh's book, An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman.