On Tuesday, the NBA announced that Jrue Holiday had been named the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year. The award is voted on by fellow players in the league and Holiday was a runaway winner. The award has been given out since 2012-13 and Holiday is the first Pelican to receive the award.
Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin released the following statement on Holiday’s award.
“There isn’t a more deserving player nor one that better embodies what this award signifies, on and off the court, than Jrue Holiday. Jrue’s concern for and connection to his community is at the heart of everything we want this organization to represent. The work that he and his wife Lauren have done locally in New Orleans, as well as in Southern California and Indiana cannot go unnoticed, and his willingness to donate his full remaining salary following the restart of the 2019-2020 season to the ongoing fight for social justice further demonstrates what type of human being Jrue is. We are honored and grateful that Jrue is part of our Pelicans family.”
Holiday’s 53 first-place votes were the most of any player with Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris finishing second overall and in first-place votes. Milwaukee’s Kyle Korver finished third, Miami’s Udonis Haslem was fourth and Portland’s Damian Lillard was fifth in voting.
Previous winners of the award include Mike Conley last season, Jamal Crawford, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier and Chauncey Billups.
Prior to the restart, Holiday announced that he would be donating the remainder of his game checks for the rest of the season, totaling roughly $5.3 million, to a foundation created by him and his wife to help Black-owned businesses across the country.
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