| Season | Player | Team |
| 1974-75 | Wes Unseld | Washington Bullets |
| 1975-76 | Slick Watts | Seattle SuperSonics |
| 1976-77 | Dave Bing | Washington Bullets |
| 1977-78 | Bob Lanier | Detroit Pistons |
| 1978-79 | Calvin Murphy | Houston Rockets |
| 1979-80 | Austin Carr | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1980-81 | Mike Glenn | New York Knicks |
| 1981-82 | Kent Benson | Detroit Pistons |
| 1982-83 | Julius Erving | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1983-84 | Frank Layden | Utah Jazz |
| 1984-85 | Dan Issel | Denver Nuggets |
| 1985-86 | Michael Cooper | Los Angeles Lakers |
| Rory Sparrow | New York Knicks | |
| 1986-87 | Isiah Thomas | Detroit Pistons |
| 1987-88 | Alex English | Denver Nuggets |
| 1988-89 | Thurl Bailey | Utah Jazz |
| 1989-90 | Doc Rivers | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1990-91 | Kevin Johnson | Phoenix Suns |
| 1991-92 | Magic Johnson | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1992-93 | Terry Porte | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1993-94 | Joe Dumars, | Detroit Pistons |
| 1994-95 | Joe O'Toole | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1995-96 | Chris Dudley | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1996-97 | P.J. Brown | Miami Heat |
| 1997-98 | Steve Smith | Atlanta Hawks |
| 1998-99 | Brian Grant | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1999-00 | Vlade Divac | Sacramento Kings |