NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award

The National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute (or sixth man). A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout the United States and Canada votes on the recipient. 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.^[1]

Since its inception, the award has been given to 25 different players. Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf have each won the award two times. The Phoenix Suns have had four winners while the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks have had three.^[2] McHale and Bill Walton are the only Hall of Famers who have won the award; Walton is also the only award winner to have earned NBA MVP honors.^[3] The most recent award winner is Lamar Odom.^[4] Manu Ginóbili, Schrempf, Leandro Barbosa, Toni Kukoč and Ben Gordon are the only award winners not born in the United States. Gordon was the first player to win the award as a rookie.^[5]

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 before playing college basketball at Washington, and Gordon was raised in Mount Vernon, New York and went on to play in college at Connecticut.

Winners

Leandro Barbosa won the award in the 2006–07 NBA season.

Manu Ginóbili won the award in the 2007–08 NBA season.

Lamar Odom won the award in the 2010–11 NBA season.

^	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA
*	Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has received the award

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
1982–83	Jones, BobbyBobby Jones	Forward	United States	Philadelphia 76ers
1983–84	McHale, KevinKevin McHale*	Forward/Center	United States	Boston Celtics
1984–85	McHale, KevinKevin McHale* (2)	Forward/Center	United States	Boston Celtics
1985–86	Walton, BillBill Walton*	Center	United States	Boston Celtics
1986–87	Pierce, RickyRicky Pierce	Guard	United States	Milwaukee Bucks
1987–88	Tarpley, RoyRoy Tarpley	Forward/Center	United States	Dallas Mavericks
1988–89	Johnson, EddieEddie Johnson	Forward	United States	Phoenix Suns
1989–90	Pierce, RickyRicky Pierce (2)	Guard	United States	Milwaukee Bucks
1990–91	Schrempf, DetlefDetlef Schrempf	Forward	Germany	Indiana Pacers
1991–92	Schrempf, DetlefDetlef Schrempf (2)	Forward	Germany	Indiana Pacers
1992–93	Robinson, CliffordClifford Robinson	Forward/Center	United States	Portland Trail Blazers
1993–94	Curry, DellDell Curry	Guard/Forward	United States	Charlotte Hornets
1994–95	Mason, AnthonyAnthony Mason	Forward	United States	New York Knicks
1995–96	Kukoč, ToniToni Kukoč	Forward	Croatia	Chicago Bulls
1996–97	Starks, JohnJohn Starks	Guard	United States	New York Knicks
1997–98	Manning, DannyDanny Manning	Forward	United States	Phoenix Suns
1998–99	Armstrong, DarrellDarrell Armstrong	Guard	United States	Orlando Magic
1999–00	Rogers, RodneyRodney Rogers	Forward	United States	Phoenix Suns
2000–01	McKie, AaronAaron McKie	Guard	United States	Philadelphia 76ers
2001–02	Williamson, CorlissCorliss Williamson	Forward	United States	Detroit Pistons
2002–03	Jackson, BobbyBobby Jackson	Guard	United States	Sacramento Kings
2003–04	Jamison, AntawnAntawn Jamison^	Forward	United States	Dallas Mavericks
2004–05	Gordon, BenBen Gordon^	Guard	United States  United Kingdom[a]	Chicago Bulls
2005–06	Miller, MikeMike Miller^	Forward/Guard	United States	Memphis Grizzlies
2006–07	Barbosa, LeandroLeandro Barbosa^	Guard	Brazil	Phoenix Suns
2007–08	Ginóbili, ManuManu Ginóbili^	Guard	Argentina	San Antonio Spurs
2008–09	Terry, JasonJason Terry^	Guard	United States	Dallas Mavericks
2009–10	Crawford, JamalJamal Crawford^	Guard	United States	Atlanta Hawks
2010–11	Odom, LamarLamar Odom^	Forward	United States	Los Angeles Lakers

Notes

• ^a Ben Gordon holds both American and British citizenship as he was born in England but was raised in the United States.^[6]

References

General

• "NBA postseason awards: Sixth Man Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/awards_sixthman.html. Retrieved June 2, 2008. 
• "Sixth Man of the Year Award Winners". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/smoy.html. Retrieved July 11, 2008. 

Specific

1. ^ "Ginobili Wins 2007-08 Sixth Man of the Year Award Presented by Kia Motors". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 21, 2008. http://www.nba.com/news/sixthman_080421.html. Retrieved July 11, 2008. 
2. ^ "Phoenix’s Barbosa Wins 2006-07 NBA Sixth Man Award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 1, 2007. http://www.nba.com/news/barbosa_sixthmanwinner_070423.html. Retrieved July 11, 2008. 
3. ^ "Most Valuable Player". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. http://www.nba.com/history/awards_mvp.html. Retrieved June 15, 2009. 
4. ^ "Lakers' Odom wins Kia Sixth Man of the Year award". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 19, 2011. http://www.nba.com/2011/news/04/19/kia-sixth-man-of-year/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2. Retrieved April 19, 2011. 
5. ^ "Gordon Wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award". NBA.com/Chicago Bulls. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. May 3, 2005. http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/sixthman_0405.html. Retrieved July 11, 2008. 
6. ^ "First Person: Ben Gordon, Bulls Guard". Sports Illustrated. November 13, 2006. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/players/11/07/first.person1113/. Retrieved August 14, 2008.