The Hawks announced that veteran guard Bogdan Bogdanovic won this season’s Sekou Smith Award on Tuesday.
Local media voted Bogdanovic as this year’s winner, and the team will recognize him ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Heat at State Farm Arena. The pregame award presentation also will include Smith’s family.
“Bogi is a true professional, and that extends to his cooperation with the media,” Jon Steinberg, the Hawks’ vice president of basketball communications, said in a news release. “He is always accommodating and honest with the media during the season’s peaks and valleys, and is a very deserving recipient among many strong candidates up and down the roster.”
The award recognizes the Hawks player “who best represents themselves and the franchise with professionalism and integrity in their interactions with the media,” according to the team. It was named for Smith, who served as the Hawks beat reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from 2005-09 before joining NBA Digital as a multimedia reporter and analyst. He also worked at The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, and at the Indianapolis Star, where he was the beat reporter who covered the Pacers.
The Hawks also named the media workroom at State Farm Arena after Smith in 2021, and the team began an annual Hawks-NBA Summer League internship in Smith’s name in 2021.
Smith died in January 2021 after battling COVID-19.
Past Sekou Smith Award winners
2020-21 John Collins
2021-22 Kevin Huerter
2022-23 Clint Capela
Past Sekou Smith Hawks-NBA Summer League interns
2021 Clement Gibson (Jackson State)
2022 Cullen Davis (Alabama State)
2023 Kendal Manns (Alabama State)
