The Cavaliers’ Luol Deng was named winner of the 2014 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award Tuesday. The Hawks’ Kyle Korver was a finalist for the award given annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association to the player, coach or trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.
The other finalists for the award were the Heat’s Ray Allen, the Spurs’ Matt Bonner and the Thunder’s Kevin Durant.
Of Korver’s many charitable works, in Atlanta and other cities, includes Kyle Korver Foundation with a mantra of “one child, one family, one class, one school, one neighborhood, one city,” behind the belief that an individualistic approach is the way to enact change for underprivileged children and families. The foundation has been a part of a number of charitable endeavors, including building more than 100 wheelchair ramps, holding coat drives and hosting holiday parties for underprivileged children.
“The breadth and depth of Luol Deng’s community service elevated him from a deep pool of committed candidates,” PBWA President Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer said. “But, really, all the candidates and their communities are winners.”
The PBWA comprises approximately 175 writers for newspapers, Internet services and magazines, who cover the NBA on a regular basis. The award has been given since 1974-75.
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