Keldon Johnson wins NBA Sixth Man award

San Antonio Spurs swingman Keldon Johnson has won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award, capping a season in which he provided steady scoring, rebounding and efficiency off the bench.

The NBA announced Wednesday that Johnson was chosen by a 100-member global media panel for the John Havlicek Trophy.

The seventh-year veteran averaged 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds per game while shooting 51.9% from the field and 36.3% from 3-point range.

He was also the only player in the league to come off the bench in all 82 games.

“It’s a little emotional,” Johnson said on ESPN after he was revealed as the winner.

“It’s a big accomplishment. A lot of hard work goes into an award like this.”

Johnson ranked as the No. 5 scorer and No. 4 rebounder on a Spurs team that posted the league’s second-best regular-season record at 62-20.

The 26-year-old Kentucky product has spent his entire NBA career in San Antonio after the Spurs selected him with the 29th overall pick in the 2019 draft.

He joined Manu Ginobili, who won the award in the 2007-08 season, as the only Spurs players to be named Sixth Man of the Year.

Johnson’s path to the honor reflected a significant shift in role over the course of his career.

During his first four seasons in the league, he was a regular starter for San Antonio and started 205 of the 224 games he played.

By his fifth season, however, he had begun embracing the role of spark plug off the bench, a transition that ultimately paid off.

“I started for a long time,” Johnson said.

“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.”

“I wanted to be part of something special here in San Antonio. I knew that in order for me to really be the best for our team that coming off the bench was probably my best possibility. At first, it was tough. I had to (control) my ego and put the team first. After that, the sky was the limit.”

Johnson received 63 of the 100 first-place votes and finished with 404 points in the balloting.

Miami Heat reserve Jaime Jaquez Jr. placed second after receiving 34 first-place votes and 331 points.

Jaquez averaged 15.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists while serving as a reserve in 74 of his 75 appearances this season.

Denver’s Tim Hardaway Jr. finished third in the voting.

Minnesota’s Naz Reid, Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart and New York’s Mitchell Robinson each received one first-place vote.

The award underscored Johnson’s value to a Spurs team that combined depth and regular-season consistency, with his production off the bench helping power one of the NBA’s top records.