CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
After amassing a 22-50 record, one wouldn't expect many -- or any -- Cleveland Cavaliers players to be nominated for any awards following the 2020-21 NBA season.
There appears, however, to be one exception.
On Tuesday, the NBA announced that Cavs forward Larry Nance Jr. is one of 10 players to have been nominated for the NBA Cares Community Assist Award presented by Kaiser Permanente. The complete list of nominees is as follows:
- DeAndre’ Bembry - Toronto Raptors
- Devin Booker - Phoenix Suns
- Joel Embiid - Philadelphia 76ers
- Jrue Holiday - Milwaukee Bucks
- Damian Lillard - Portland Trail Blazers
- Patty Mills - San Antonio Spurs
- Donovan Mitchell - Utah Jazz
- Larry Nance Jr. - Cleveland Cavaliers
- Josh Richardson - Dallas Mavericks
- Russell Westbrook - Washington Wizards
Nance's nomination comes as a result of his efforts to raise money for local businesses in Northeast Ohio that have been impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For each game this past season, Nance wore a t-shirt or other apparel from a local business on his way into the arena to raise awareness and auctioned off his game-worn jerseys with proceeds going to that business.
As opposed to other NBA postseason awards, which are voted on by the media, voting for the NBA Community Assist Award is done by the fans. Fans can vote on the award beginning on Tuesday using the mobile app Jebbit or on Twitter by using #NBACommunityAssist and a player’s handle or #PlayerFirstNameLastName (e.g., #LarryNanceJr).
The winner of the award will be honored during a virtual presentation with team, league and Kaiser Permanente officials, with a $25,000 donation from the NBA and Kaiser Permanente being made to an organization of his choosing.