For his efforts raising awareness and funds for mental-health issues, Ron Artest was named Tuesday as the winner of the 2010-11 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.

"I'm not going to tell you there it's up there with the NBA championship, but it's definitely over the Defensive Player of the year award that I got," said Artest, who won that honor for the 2003-04 season. "It's important because there are kids here in America who aren't doing well. I want to see those kids have an opportunity to succeed, whether they're on drugs, are abused or have a lack of confidence, bullied, cyber bullied or have family issues. I'm trying to help out and bring awareness."

The award honors an NBA player or coach who has displayed "outstanding service and dedication to the community" and is determined by the PBWA, a panel of 150 writers who cover the NBA for newspapers, magazines or the Internet on a regular basis.

Kevin Love has been named the league's Most Improved Player award. Two people with knowledge of the announcement told The Associated Press that Love will be given the award at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

The people requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the award before the announcement.

Love averaged 20.2 points and led the NBA with 15.2 rebounds per game this season for the Timberwolves.

Lamar Odom received the Sixth Man of the Year award on Tuesday in an emotional ceremony that made the Lakers' forward remember his late mother and grandmother.

When Odom was growing up, he would proudly bring home trophies to show his grandmother.

“Coming home on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and bringing that trophy home to my grandmother … she would look forward to it. So this is one more trophy that I get to bring home,” said Odom.

Odom received 96 of a possible 117 first place votes.

“There was a point in my career where I think people were ready to call me an underachiever,” Odom said. “I think winning an award like this is kind of right at those people that were ready to call me an underachiever.”

Lamar Odom is the recipient of the 2010-11 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, the NBA announced on Wednesday. The honor, voted on by a panel of 120 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada, is the first for Odom as well as the first for a Lakers player since the award’s inception prior to the 1982-83 season.

Odom, a two-time NBA Champion and member of the gold medal winning 2010 USA Basketball Men’s World Championship team, appeared in all 82 games for the Lakers this season, averaging 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 32.2 minutes. Ranked 15th among league leaders in rebounds and 11th (.530) in field goal percentage, Odom recorded 28 double-doubles on the season while scoring 20-plus points 14 times.  

“Lamar could realistically start for any team in this league but his team-first attitude has allowed us to utilize him in a sixth man role,” said Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak. “He could have won this award in any of the last several seasons and I’m happy that his unselfishness and talent have finally been recognized.”

Lamar Odom is expected to be named the Sixth Man of the Year on Tuesday afternoon.

Odom averaged 14.4 points and 8.7 rebounds per game during the 10-11 season. Odom scored just 10.8 during the previous season and was far more efficient in the process, with a True Shooting Percentage of 58.9%.

Odom's PER of 19.4 was the highest of his 12-year career.

Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the recipient of the 2010-11 Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, the NBA announced today. Howard becomes the first player to earn the honor three straight seasons; only Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace, with four each, have won the award more times.

The 6-11 center led the league with 66 double-doubles, including six 20-point/20-rebound efforts, while ranking second in rebounds (14.1 rpg) and fourth in blocks (2.38 bpg). With Howard manning the middle, the Magic allowed 93.5 ppg, ranking fourth in that category.

Kevin Garnett finished second with 77 points ahead of Tyson Chandler with 70, Tony Allen with 53 and Rajon Rondo with 45.

Garnett, Grant Hill, Chuck Hayes, Joakim Noah and Keith Bogans all received at least one first place vote.

Dwight Howard will become the first player in NBA history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award for the third consecutive season, according to sources.

The Magic have scheduled a 1:30 p.m. ET news conference after the team's practice for what was deemed "a major announcement."

The NBA did not have a Defensive Player of the Year award until the 1982-83 season, which excludes former greats like Bill Russell.

The Miami Heat’s LeBron James and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant were named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played during April.

James helped lead Miami to a 6-1 mark in April, as the Heat rallied to claim the second-seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. James led the NBA in scoring (28.5 ppg) for the month, shooting a robust 55 percent from the field. He also averaged 8.0 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 steals, closing out his seventh straight season averaging at least 25 points, six rebounds and six assists, joining Oscar Robertson as the only players in NBA history to accomplish this feat. 

Durant helped lead Oklahoma City to its seventh consecutive winning month (5-3), as the Thunder finished with a record of 55-27, good for a Northwest Division title and the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. He averaged 26.8 points and 7.3 rebounds, while leading Oklahoma City to key road wins over Denver and the L.A Lakers. 

Portland's Nate McMillan was named the NBA's Western Conference Coach of the Month for April, it was announced on Thursday by the NBA.

Chicago's Tom Thibodeau received the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month award.

McMillan led the Trail Blazers to a 5-2 month, the best record of any Western Conference team in April, including wins against Oklahoma City, Dallas and the Los Angeles Lakers. Portland enters the 2011 NBA Playoffs as the number six seed in the Western Conference.

The New York Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, April 4, through Sunday, April 10.

Anthony led the Knicks to a 4-0 week, which included a 110-109 victory over Indiana on April 10 in which Anthony hit the game-winning shot and blocked Danny Granger’s potential game-winning shot on consecutive possessions. Anthony averaged 28.3 points and 9.5 rebounds to go along with 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steals. Anthony shot .529 (18-of-34) from three-point range, and recorded two point-rebound double-doubles.

Durant helped the Thunder to a 4-0 week, which included wins over the Lakers in Los Angeles (first time since March 12, 2006) and the Nuggets in Denver (first time since March 28, 2007). Durant, the league’s leading scoring at 27.8 ppg, averaged 30.0 points and 6.8 rebounds on the week. At 54-26, the Thunder sits in fourth place in the Western Conference with two games to play, one game back of the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.