Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday was named the winner of the NBA's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award on Monday night at the NBA Awards.
The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award is named for Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes, whose storied friendship transcended their Hall of Fame accomplishments. Twyman and Stokes were teammates on the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals from 1955-58. In the last game of the 1957-58 regular season, Stokes sustained an injury that led to his falling into a coma days later and becoming permanently paralyzed. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center. Stokes was supported for the rest of his life by Twyman, who became his legal guardian and advocate.
Twyman helped organize the NBA's Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball Game, which raised funds for Stokes' medical care and, after Stokes' death in 1970 at age 36, for other players in need. In 2004, after years of lobbying by Twyman, Stokes was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Twyman, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1983, died in 2012.
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Holiday is the first two-time winner of the award after also earning the honor in 2019-20 with the New Orleans Pelicans. Chauncey Billups won the inaugural award in 2012-13 with the Los Angeles Clippers, while Shane Battier (Miami Heat, 2013-14), NBA Hall of Famer Tim Duncan (San Antonio Spurs, 2014-15), Vince Carter (Memphis Grizzlies, 2015-16), Dirk Nowitzski (Dallas Mavericks, 2016-17), Jamal Crawford (Minnesota Timberwolves, 2017-18), Mike Conley, Jr. (Memphis Grizzles, 2018-19) and Damian Lillard (Portland Trailblazers, 2020-21) have also been bestowed the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.
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Stokes was a four-year letterwinner from 1951-55 for then the Saint Francis College "Frankies," leading the team to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in his final two seasons. The Frankies won 20 games in three of his four seasons and finished fourth in the 1955 NIT. For his efforts, Stokes was named the MVP and was a second-team All-America selection in 1955. Stokes finished his career in Loretto with 2,282 points and 1,819 rebounds even with the rebound statistic not kept during his freshman year. Stokes also holds the single-game record for rebounds with 39 against John Carroll (Jan. 28, 1955) and posted 43 points against Dayton in the 1955 NIT.
Every year, 12 players, six from each conference, are nominated by a panel of NBA executives. NBA players then cast votes for the award, with 10 points given for each first-place vote, seven for a second-place vote, five points for third, three points for fourth, and one point for each fifth-place vote received. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. The NBA presents the winner with the Twyman–Stokes Trophy and gives a $25,000 donation to a charity of the recipient's choice.
Holiday, 31, averaged 18.3 points, 6.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.61 steals in 32.9 minutes in 67 games this season. Last season, he helped lead Milwaukee to its first NBA championship in 50 years. An NBA All-Star selection in the 2012-13 season, Holiday has been named to the NBA All-Defensive Team three times.
In addition to Holiday, the finalists were Chicago Bulls guard-forward DeMar DeRozan, Utah Jazz forward Rudy Gay, Denver Nuggets forward Jeff Green, Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem, Golden State Warriors forward Andre Iguodala, Memphis Grizzlies forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr., Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love, Dallas Mavericks center Boban Marjanović, Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul, Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet and Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams.
Holiday received 964 points (39 first-place votes) in balloting of NBA players. Marjanović finished in second place with 936 points (48 first-place votes). DeRozan finished in third place with 898 points (34 first-place votes). Players were awarded 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.
Credit NBA.com with the information regarding this year's winner and votes.
