Johnson wins NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award, topping fellow finalists Jaquez Jr., Hardaway Jr.
Keldon Johnson was the ultimate backup for the San Antonio Spurs this season. Voters seemed to agree — and the Spurs have another award winner. Johnson was announced Wednesday night as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, joining Manu Ginobili in 2008 as the only Spurs to win that award.
Keldon Johnson was the ultimate backup for the San Antonio Spurs this season. He played in all 82 games, all off the bench, becoming only the second NBA player in the last decade to do that. He became the first Spurs player to score 1,000 points as a reserve in a season.
And all year long, San Antonio touted him as the best backup in the league. Voters seemed to agree — and the Spurs have another award winner. Johnson was announced Wednesday night as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year, joining Manu Ginobili in 2008 as the only Spurs to win that award.
It's the first individual NBA award for Johnson, who was part of the U. S. Olympic team that won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“I started for a long time,” Johnson said on ESPN. “Now, it's my time to come off the bench. I just continue to analyze the game, come off the bench, go in there and just do my thing.