Last month, the 39-year-old Duncan signed a one-year, $5 million deal with a player option for the 2016-17 season with the Spurs. He has spent his entire career in San Antonio, the franchise that drafted him first overall in the 1997 draft. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
San Antonio Spurs power forward Tim Duncan has been selected by NBA players as the recipient of the 2014-15 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.
The award, which was announced Wednesday by the NBA, recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to the team.
A panel of NBA Legends nominated six players from each conference for the award and then nearly 300 NBA players submitted their votes through confidential balloting conducted by the league office.
Duncan has helped the Spurs reach the playoffs in each of his 18 NBA seasons and win five championships. Last season, Duncan was selected to his 15th All-Star Game, 15th All-NBA Team and 15th NBA All-Defensive Team.
Jack Twyman and Maurice Stokes, whose storied friendship transcended their Hall of Fame accomplishments, are honored with an annual NBA award in their names that recognizes the ideal teammate. Twyman and Stokes were teammates on the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals from 1955 to 1958. In the last game of the 1957-58 regular season, Stokes suffered an injury that led to his falling into a coma days later, leaving him permanently paralyzed. 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 his death in 1970 at age 36, for other players in need. In 2004, after years of lobbying by Twyman, Stokes was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Twyman, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1983, died in 2012.
As part of its support for the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, the NBA will make a $25,000 donation split among the following five charities selected by Duncan: My Brother’s Workshop, American Cancer Society, Ten Thousand Helpers, St. Croix Interscholastic Athletic Association and St. Croix Foundation.
Duncan totaled 1,494 points from the players, including 72 first-place votes. The Memphis Grizzlies’ Vince Carter finished second with 818 points (28 first-place votes), and the Atlanta Hawks’ Elton Brand placed third with 707 points (21 first-place votes).
Duncan will be officially presented the trophy by 2013-14 Twyman-Stokes Award winner Shane Battier at a Spurs home game this fall.
Last month, the 39-year-old Duncan signed a one-year, $5 million deal with a player option for the 2016-17 season with the Spurs. He has spent his entire career in San Antonio, the franchise that drafted him first overall in the 1997 draft.
