Patty Mills named recipient of 2021-22 NBA Sportsmanship Award

The NBA has named Patty Mills the recipient of the Joe Dumars Trophy, the NBA Sportsmanship Award for 2021-22. The annual award best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the hardwood.

Mills becomes the first Net in franchise history to win the award. The veteran guard received 1,975 total points (58 first-place votes) in the balloting of NBA players. Former Net, Jeff Green tallied the second-most votes and finished in second with 1,841 points (60 first-place votes).

Here’s the final voting...

The six finalists — Mills, Green, Bam Adebayo, Mikal Bridges, Darius Garland, and Jaren Jackson Jr. — were awarded 11 points for each first-place vote, nine points for each second-place vote, seven points 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. Each NBA team nominated one of its players for the NBA Sportsmanship Award and one player from each division is named a finalist.

The 13-year guard was presented with a special edition 75th Anniversary commemorative trophy today in celebration of the honor, gifted in addition to the Joe Dumars Trophy.

Mills talked about why it matters.

“I think it was a cool moment at practice today,” said Mills. “Again, another one of those recognitions that you don’t really set out to achieve in a lifetime. You just go about your day-to-day business I guess and be who you are. But the recognition is cool. I think the coolest thing about it is it’s your peers, your teammates, the players that you play against, who vote and knowing that is pretty cool.

“It’s a credit to my family and my parents, my upbringing, my culture specifically, and all the values that I have been taught growing up and now in a position to be able to inspire others to love the game, respect the game, and go about it in a manner that is respectful, so yeah, it’s cool.”

The commemorative trophy, composed of a solid crystal basketball, features the NBA 75 logo that’s 3D laser etched and suspended within its center.

Mills averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 assists in 29.0 minutes in 81 games with the Nets this season.

• BROOKLYN NETS’ PATTY MILLS RECEIVES NBA SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD - Tom Dowd - Brooklyn Nets