NBA Lifetime Achievement Award explained

The NBA's Lifetime Achievement Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to a player who exemplified extraordinary success on and off the court in the NBA.

The inaugural recipient of the award was Bill Russell: a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer and 11-time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics. The 2019 award was shared between two players: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Every recipient of the award has been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame prior to receiving the award., all winners have been American.

Winners

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team	Ref.
		Center		Boston Celtics	^[1]
		Guard		Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks	^[2]
		Forward		Boston Celtics	^[3]
		Guard		Los Angeles Lakers

See also

• • List of National Basketball Association awards
• List of lifetime achievement awards
• List of NBA regular season records

Notes and References

1. Web site: Bill Russell to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at NBA Awards . nba.com . May 19, 2019 . July 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200728181859/https://www.nba.com/article/2017/06/15/bill-russell-receive-lifetime-achievement-award-nba-awards-2017 . live .
2. Web site: Oscar Robertson to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at NBA Awards . nba.com . May 19, 2019 . December 19, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181219082309/http://www.nba.com/article/2018/06/15/oscar-robertson-receive-lifetime-achievement-award . live .
3. Web site: Magic Johnson and Larry Bird to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2019 NBA Awards . nba.com . May 19, 2019 . May 23, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190523133748/https://www.nba.com/article/2019/05/15/magic-johnscon-larry-bird-lifetime-achievement-nba-awards-official-release . live .