Patty Mills named finalist for NBA Sportsmanship Award

Patty Mills has been named one of six finalists for the 2021-22 NBA Sportsmanship Award — an annual award designed to honor a player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court.

The process of deciding the winner begins with each NBA team nominating one of its players for the award. From the list of 30 team nominees, a panel of league executives picks one finalist from each of the six divisions. In Mills's case, he’s the Atlantic Division finalist.

The winner of the annual award is chosen after nearly 350 players submit their votes through balloting conducted by the league office. The balloting is confidential. Last year’s balloting was formatted this way: 11 points for each first-place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven for each third-place vote, five points for each fourth-place vote, three points for each fifth-place vote, and one point for each sixth-place vote.

Since the award debuted during the 1995-96 season, no Net has taken it home. Mills would become the first Net to win the annual award if selected. The other five finalists for the 2021-22 award are Bam Adebayo of the Miami Heat, Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns, Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Jeff Green of the Denver Nuggets, and Jaren Jackson of the Memphis Grizzlies. Jrue Holiday of the Milwaukee Bucks won the award last season (2020-21).