SAN ANTONIO -- Spurs forward Keldon Johnson made the most of the club's decision to move him to the bench two seasons ago, earning the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award, the league announced Wednesday.
Johnson became the first Spur in franchise history to score at least 1,000 points off the bench in a season for an organization that produced a Hall of Fame sixth man in Manu Ginobili, the only other San Antonio player to win the award. Johnson's 1,081 points off the bench this season ranked as the second most in the NBA.
"I wanted to be part of something special here in San Antonio," Johnson said on ESPN after he was revealed as the winner. "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."
Miami's Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Denver's Tim Hardaway Jr. were the other finalists. Jaquez led all reserves in scoring and double-digit games, and Hardaway led all reserves with 205 3-pointers and was fourth in scoring.
In the Sixth Man balloting, Johnson got 63 first-place votes, while Jaquez got 34. Hardaway was followed by Minnesota's Naz Reid (the 2024 winner, who got one first-place vote this year) in fourth, Oklahoma City's Ajay Mitchell in fifth, Houston's Reed Sheppard in sixth, Detroit's Isaiah Stewart (one first-place vote) in seventh, New York's Mitchell Robinson (one first-place vote) in eighth, Minnesota's Ayo Dosunmu in ninth, Toronto's Sandro Mamukelashvili in 10th, San Antonio's Dylan Harper in 11th and Toronto's Jamal Shead in 12th.
"It's a little emotional," Johnson said. "It's a big accomplishment. A lot of hard work goes into an award like this."
Coming off a 2022-23 campaign in which he led a 22-60 Spurs squad in scoring with a career-high 22 points per game, Johnson sat down one morning in Dallas before a team meeting with former coach Gregg Popovich, who informed the seventh-year veteran of the club's intention to bring him off the bench. Over the first four years of his career, Johnson had started in 205 games.
"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."
"He has sacrificed more than anybody on this team in my opinion in terms of stats and playing time and has outshone everybody on the team because he's the soul of this team," said Spurs star Victor Wembanyama, who on Monday was named Defensive Player of the Year. "He brings energy, no matter what time of the day. He deserves to be the Sixth Man of the Year."
The longest-tenured player on the Spurs roster, Johnson tallied 13 20-point performances off the bench in the regular season, which tied for third most in a season in franchise history and the most such games since Ginobili in the 2006-07 season. Johnson ranked in the top five in total rebounds (303), free throws made (154), free throws attempted (194) and plus-minus off the bench (plus 3.9) and shot a career-best 60% on 2-point field goals.
Johnson has come off the bench in 201 of his last 202 games, including 159 over the past two seasons.
"You see it all over the place," Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. "The kid's just falling on the floor. He puts his body in harm's way for the betterment of the team every game. He's the heart and soul of the team. We've got a lot of big personalities, and we've got a face of the franchise. But that guy's the heart and soul. You can see it when you watch us for long enough."
Rookie guard Harper agreed, pointing out that Johnson has fostered a culture of inclusion in the Spurs' locker room, where everybody can be themselves.
"The role he's taken and how he thrives in his role is the best thing ever for us," Harper said. "He's kind of a glue guy, just someone that comes in every day with a smile on his face and he has the most energy of everyone. His skill set speaks for itself. And at 1,000 points [off the bench], you see it every night that he contributes in a big way."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
