Malcolm Brogdon of the Boston Celtics has been named the NBA’s 2022-23 Sixth Man of the Year, the league announced during the NBA on TNT broadcast on Thursday.
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Brogdon earned 60 of the 100 first-place votes and 408 overall points, beating out New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley and Milwaukee Bucks stretch-big Bobby Portis. Quickley came in second with 34 first-place votes and 326 points and Portis had six votes and 97 points.
He joined the Celtics in the offseason after being traded from the Indiana Pacers. He averaged 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in his first year with the team. Among those who played primarily off the bench this season, only the Los Angeles Clippers’ Russell Westbrook finished the year with better averages in those three categories
“This is such an honour. It has definitely been a transition for me, coming from Indiana to Boston,” said Brogdon on the TNT broadcast. “My last two seasons, they weren’t super successful, so for me, that was another gut check for me in understanding that maybe I’m not a No. 1 guy but I can be a great No. 2, 3 or 4.”
The seventh-year guard came off the bench in all 67 games he appeared in, a change from his role in prior years as a starting guard for the Pacers and Bucks. In his new role, he found ways to maximize his already steady efficiency.
The 30-year-old season had an efficient season off the bench, finishing fourth league-wide in three-point percentage with 48.4 per cent of his looks from deep finding the bottom of the basket.
Among reserves league-wide, Brogdon ranked first in minutes played (1743.8), second in made field goals (354), third in total points (1,000) and fourth in assists (248).
Boston sent five players and a first-round draft pick in 2023 to Indiana for Brogdon, with this specific off-the-bench role in mind even though he had started in each of his last 210 regular-season appearances.
Despite only coming off the bench, he was still third on Boston in points per game, behind only Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. When Brogdon made at least 50 per cent of his shots, the Celtics were 26-9 — and 13-0 when he shot at least 63 per cent.
It’s the second major individual award of Brogdon’s career: The 30-year-old guard was rookie of the year in 2016-17. He joins Mike Miller as the only player to ever take home both awards during their career.
He’s the third Celtics player to take home the award after Bill Walton won it in 1986 and Kevin McHale won it in 1984 and 1985.
Boston is set to take on the Atlanta Hawks in Game 3 of their first-round matchup on Friday.
With files from The Associated Press
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