A former Florida Gators superstar turned Los Angeles Lakers swingman is vying for a top accolade presented by the NBA.
On Wednesday, the NBA announced their 2024-25 Sportsmanship Award finalists, with Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith among the six veterans.
Finney-Smith joined the Lakers during the turn of the new year for D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and a trio of future second-round NBA Draft selections. The 31-year-old has started 18 of his 37 games, registering 7.7 points per game on 39% shooting from deep. Finney-Smith remains a sparkplug off the bench on most nights, with 45 steals and blocks combined during his tenure with Los Angeles.
Current players will decide the NBA Sportsmanship Award winner via voting. Jarrett Allen, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jrue Holiday, Kyrie Irving, and Franz Wagner are also up for the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award.
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley has won the honor a record four times, most recently winning for the 2022-23 campaign. Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers earned the honor last season.
A nine-year NBA veteran, Finney-Smith played for the Florida Gators from 2013-2016. He helped lead Florida to the national championship game during his first year with the Gators before becoming a second-team All-SEC member in 2015 and 2016. Finney-Smith scored 14.7 points per game in his final season, the 15th-best mark in the SEC. An undrafted free agent, he spent his first seven seasons with the Dallas Mavericks before landing with the Brooklyn Nets and, eventually, the Lakers.
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 3:12 PM.