The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA) award given since the
1982–83 NBA season to the league's best performing player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute (or
sixth man
The sixth man in basketball is a player who is not a starter but comes off the bench much more often than other reserves, often being the first player to be substituted in. The sixth man often plays minutes equal to or exceeding some of the sta ...
). A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout the United States and Canada votes on the recipient. Starting with the
2022–23 NBA season
The 2022–23 NBA season is the 77th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the regular season began on October 18, 2022, and is scheduled to end on April 9, 2023. The 2023 NBA All-Star Game is scheduled to be played on February 1 ...
, winners receive the
John Havlicek
John Joseph Havlicek ( ; April 8, 1940 – April 25, 2019) was an American professional basketball player who spent his entire career with the Boston Celtics, winning List of NBA players with most championships, eight NBA championships, four of ...
Trophy, named after the eight-time NBA champion.
Each judge casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award. To be eligible for the award, a player must come off the bench in more games than he starts. The
2008–09 winner,
Jason Terry
Jason Eugene Terry (born September 15, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 19 seasons in the NBA as a combo guard and is ...
, averaged the most playing time of any sixth man in an award-winning season; he finished the year with an average of 33.7 minutes played per game with the
Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
.
Bobby Jones was the inaugural winner of the award for the
1982–83 NBA season. The
2021-22 recipient was
Tyler Herro
Tyler Christopher Herro ( ; born January 20, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for one year with the Kentucky Wildcats.
After bein ...
of the
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...
.
Jamal Crawford
Aaron Jamal Crawford (born March 20, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2000 to 2020. He is regarded as one of the best ball handlers in NBA history,. He was nam ...
and
Lou Williams
Louis Tyrone Williams (born October 27, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted directly out of high school by the Philadelphia 76ers ...
are the only three time winners of the award.
Kevin McHale,
Ricky Pierce
Richard Charles Pierce (born August 19, 1959) is an American retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player. Nicknamed "Deuces" and "Big Paper Daddy", he was selected as an NBA All-Star (1991) and was twice the NBA Sixth Man of the Year (19 ...
and
Detlef Schrempf
Detlef Schrempf (born January 21, 1963) is a German-American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Washington Huskies from 1981 to 1985, and was drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) by the ...
won the award twice. McHale,
Toni Kukoč
Toni Kukoč, nicknamed ''“The Waiter”'' (; born September 18, 1968) is a Croatian-American former professional basketball player who serves as Special Advisor to Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Chicago Bulls. After a highly successful perio ...
,
Bobby Jones,
Bill Walton
William Theodore Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is an American television sportscaster and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for coach John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins, winning three consecutive national ...
, and
Manu Ginóbili
Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...
are the only
Hall of Famers who have won the award; Walton, along with
James Harden
James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...
, are the only award winners to have earned
NBA MVP
The National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1955–56 season to the best performing player of the regular season. Starting with the 2022–23 ...
honors in their careers. Manu Ginóbili is the only award winner to be named to an
All-NBA team
The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...
in the same season.
Manu Ginóbili
Emanuel David Ginóbili Maccari (, , ; born 28 July 1977) is an Argentine former professional basketball player. Over a 23-year professional career, he became one of only two players (along with Bill Bradley) to have won a EuroLeague title, an ...
, Detlef Schrempf,
Leandro Barbosa
Leandro Mateus Barbosa (; born November 28, 1982), also known as Leandrinho Barbosa, is a Brazilian former professional basketball player who is an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also rep ...
, Toni Kukoč, and
Ben Gordon
Benjamin Ashenafi Gordon (born April 4, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. Gordon played for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and he played college basketball for the University of Connecticut, ...
are the only award winners not born in the United States. Gordon was the first player to win the award as a rookie.
Of the five foreign-born winners, three were trained completely outside the U.S., namely Ginóbili, Barbosa and Kukoč. Schrempf played two years of high school basketball in
Centralia, Washington
Centralia () is a city in Lewis County, Washington, United States. It is located along Interstate 5 near the midpoint between Seattle and Portland, Oregon. The city had a population of 18,183 at the 2020 census. Centralia is twinned with Ch ...
before playing college basketball at
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, and Gordon was raised in
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, immediately to the north of the Borough (New York City), borough of the Bronx. As of t ...
and went on to play in college at
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
.
Winners
Multi-time winners
Teams
See also
*
Notes
References
;General
*
*
;Specific
{{featured list
Sixth Man of the Year
National Basketball Association lists
Awards established in 1983