Suns G Damion Lee nominated for NBA’s teammate award

The NBA named Phoenix Suns guard Damion Lee as one of its 12 finalists for the 2022-23 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award on Friday.

Lee will compete with former Suns wing and current Brooklyn Net Mikal Bridges — who spent 56 of his 78 games played this year with Phoenix before the Kevin Durant trade.

Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers), Udonis Haslem (Miami Heat), Jrue Holiday (Milwaukee Bucks), Derrick Rose (New York Knicks), Grant Williams (Boston Celtics), Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings), Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors), Aaron Gordon (Denver Nuggets), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies) and Damian Lillard (Portland Trail Blazers) are the other 10 finalists.

Holiday won it last year for the second time in his career, the only player to earn the honor multiple times.

The league began giving out the award in the 2012-13 season.

The NBA’s criteria involves selfless play, on- and off-court leadership, being a role model to other players and team dedication.

A panel of league executives selected the finalists and current players will vote on the winner.

Lee is in his first season with the Suns after signing as a free agent from the Golden State Warriors last offseason.

Damion Lee with some fire safety hazard work postgame pic.twitter.com/2GgrQPrsQQ

— Kellan Olson (@KellanOlson) December 18, 2022

He has played in 71 of Phoenix’s 77 games this season with five starts, averaging 8.3 points per game.

Lee and the Suns are back in action Sunday on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder on ESPN 620 AM and 98.7 FM HD-2.

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