Sixth Man of the Year

Taylor Snow

Malcolm Brogdon’s season-long sacrifice of coming off Boston’s bench paid off Thursday in the form of hardware. The NBA announced that the veteran combo guard was voted the Sixth Man of the Year for the 2022-23 campaign, making him just the third player in Celtics history to win the award along with Kevin McHale (1984, 1985) and Bill Walton (1986).

Fittingly, Brogdon ended Boston’s 37-year Sixth Man drought in the same season of the award’s renaming to the John Havlicek Trophy in honor of the Celtics Legend and the original sixth man.

Brogdon won the award in convincing fashion, earning 60 out of 100 first-place votes from the media, which nearly doubled the 34 first-place votes earned by runner-up Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks.

After being a primary scorer for the Indiana Pacers over the previous three seasons, Brogdon joined the Celtics last summer knowing that his role would be reduced. Yet, he was willing to take a backseat in order to provide depth and stability within Boston’s second unit, which he did while putting up some of the best bench statistics in the NBA.

Brogdon was the only player in the league to rank among the top three in scoring, rebounding, and assisting among full-time reserves. He finished the season with averages of 14.9 points (1st), 4.2 rebounds (3rd), and 3.7 assists (2nd) per game, while also owning the fourth-best 3-point efficiency among all players at 44.4 percent.

“It's always good to get recognition for what you're doing – for your sacrifice, for your work,” said Brogdon, who accepted the trophy live in the NBA on TNT studio Thursday evening.

However, he added, “These are team awards. It takes a team to get an All-NBA to get an All-Star to get Sixth Man, Defensive Player of the Year.”

Joe Mazzulla lauded Brogdon’s team-first, selfless mentality all throughout the season, noting how crucial it was toward Boston’s success. The head coach reiterated that fact Thursday between Games 2 and 3 of its first-round series with the Atlanta Hawks.

“Each guy has had to sacrifice or put something aside for the better of this team, and when you have the depth and talent that we have, you can’t be in the position that we are without it,” Mazzulla said. “I thought Malcolm taking on the identity of the second unit, getting with the patience of sometimes finishing halves, sometimes not. Sometimes finishing games, not finishing games. I thought just he handled it with an open mind, he handled it with humility and kind of regardless of what his subpattern was or what he was doing, he just played. And we’re grateful for that.”

Being a part of such a deep roster means that several players must sacrifice their individual workloads in order to help the team reach its highest maximum value. Derrick White can appreciate what Brogdon has done for the group, having played a similar role and made similar sacrifices during last year’s NBA Finals run.

“We came here wanting to win, so we knew there were going to be sacrifices,” White said. “Obviously Malcolm could start on a lot of teams in this league and he does a lot of great things for us as soon as he comes into the game. Kind of settles down if we need him to, can do a lot of different things offensively that have been special for us. It's a big addition to have on our team this year.”

Boston’s primary scorers, such as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, have admired Brogdon’s sacrifices, as well. JB spoke at the end of the regular season about how important Brogdon’s role has been.

“Malcolm, on any given night, can come out and be one of the best players on the floor,” said Brown. “His decision-making, his poise, his athleticism – Malcolm is definitely a game changer for us being on the ball or off. He finds ways to make an effect on the game and games like today, where you don't pay attention to him, he'll light you up. That's super key. It's tough coming off the bench, I'm sure. It's been a process for him. I think this is probably the first time he's ever been asked or ever had to come off the bench in his career, and he's accepted that role and he's been great.”

Brogdon being great in his role paved the way for a great regular season for the Celtics. In the Playoffs, his value should be even more substantial.

Historically, the Celtics have had tremendous postseason success when having the Sixth Man of the Year on their team. They won the championship in 1984 when McHale won the award, made it to the Finals when he repeated in 1985, and won another title when Walton won it in 1986.

Now, Brogdon will try to make his mark in helping to guide the Celtics to another banner while playing his role as the league’s most impactful second-unit player.

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Brogdon Becomes First Celtic to Earn Sixth Man of the Year Since 1986

It’s that time of the year again: Awards Season at Celtics.com! As we do every offseason, we’re handing out six virtual trophies as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series. There are no acceptance speeches, and the voting committee is made up of only two of your favorite beat writers, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline. So here we go...

Thursday’s unveiling of our team MVP in Jayson Tatum should not have come as a surprise to anyone, and neither should today’s announcement of the recipient of our second-unit MVP.

Our 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year award, without a doubt, belongs to Robert Williams.

After playing a limited role with the Celtics throughout his first two injury-plagued NBA campaigns, Williams declared ahead of his third season that he was about to make a giant leap.

The determined center kept his word, as he put forth on a record-setting season while emerging as a rising star, mostly from a reserve role.

Williams played in 52 regular-season contests, including 39 appearances off the bench, and produced an average of 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.8 blocks, while playing 18.9 minutes per game.

He also led Boston’s regulars in a variety of statistical categories including field-goal percentage (72.1 percent), blocks per game, rebounding percentage (20.2 percent), block percentage (8.6 percent), and player efficiency rating (25.7).

In fact, his PER ranked eighth in the NBA behind superstar talents Nikola Jokic (30.36), Joel Embiid (30.32), Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.24), Zion Williamson (27.17), Jimmy Butler (26.57), Stephen Curry (26.37), and Kawhi Leonard (26.09).

His block percentage mark was also tops in the league among all players who played at least 500 minutes, ranking well above three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert (7.0 percent), who finished in second place.

Williams penned his name into the franchise record book numerous times throughout the season, and fittingly, for the Timelord, many of his historical feats were minutes-based.

On Jan. 4 against the Toronto Raptors, he became the first Celtics player since Wayne Embry in 1967 to corral at least 15 rebounds in a game while playing fewer than 20 minutes.

On March 14 against the Houston Rockets, he became just the 10th player in NBA history to log at least 16 points and 13 rebounds in a game while playing fewer than 20 minutes. In the process, he also became the second Celtics player to produce at least that many points and rebounds while shooting 100 percent from the field, joining Ed Pinckney.

Twelve days later against the soon-to-be Eastern Conference champion Milwaukee Bucks, he became the first Celtics player in the previous 25 seasons to log at least five assists and four blocks in a single half, and just the third NBA player in the last three seasons to accomplish such a feat, joining All-League big men Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic.

Though, Williams saved his most impressive feat for the playoffs: during Game 1 of the first round against Brooklyn, he logged a near-triple double of 11 points, nine rebounds and a postseason franchise record nine blocks, all in less than 23 minutes of action off the bench.

Williams was able to pack in so much to his limited playing, that he finished second on the team in win shares (5.3) behind Tatum (6.5), despite finishing ninth on the team in total minutes (985). That translated into .258 win shares per-48 minutes, which was nearly double that of Tatum’s second-place mark of .137. Just a reminder: Tatum was this team's MVP, and was an Eastern Conference All-Star starter.

Due to his high impact as a reserve, Williams eventually elevated himself into a starting role toward the end of the season. After coming off the bench for his first 37 appearances, the 6-foot-8 center earned starts in 13 of his last 15 games.

If Williams’ transition from the bench into the starting lineup holds true into next season, then this may be both his first and last time winning our Sixth Man of the Year award, which, of course, is a testament to his ascendence.

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2021 Awards Series Sixth Man of the Year: Robert Williams

Marc D'Amico

It’s awards season at Celtics.com.  We’re handing out seven awards over the next few weeks as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series.  We may not have trophies or acceptance speeches, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline.

Jerryd Bayless didn’t join the Celtics until Jan. 7, but that fact wasn’t enough to prevent him from being Boston’s Sixth Man of the Year.  The six-year veteran provided the C’s with everything they could have hoped for from their top guard off the bench.

First and foremost on that list is his ability to adapt.  Bayless was thrust into a myriad of roles during his 41 games with Boston.  His primary role was as a reserve, but he was oftentimes called upon to be a spot starter.  Bayless was also able to step up as a scorer on some nights and a distributor on others.

Brandon Bass helped to limit Carmelo Anthony to 41.8 percent shooting against the Celtics this season.
		Brian Babineau/NBAE/Getty Images

Brad Stevens brought Bayless off the bench during 27 of his 41 games with the Celtics.  He was effective as a reserve, averaging 8.2 points per game and 14.6 points per 40 minutes.

His role with the second unit was to provide minutes at the point guard position while Rajon Rondo rested.  Bayless did just that, dishing out 3.3 assists per game during an average of just 22.5 minutes of action off the bench.

But he was also there for Stevens when the coach needed a spot starter in the backcourt.  Any time Avery Bradley went down with an ankle injury, or any time Rajon Rondo had to miss a game for rest, it was Bayless who stepped into the starting lineup.

Bayless started 14 games for Boston this season and played at a very high level during those contests.  He was a sniper from long range, hitting 47.1 percent of his 3s while also shooting 88.5 percent from the free-throw line.  The combo guard also averaged 13.9 PPG and 2.9 APG as a member of the starting group.

While filling those roles for Boston, Bayless led the team in scoring six times.  He maxed out with 29 points against the Hawks on Feb. 26 and scored in double-figures during 22 of his 41 games.  He also led the Celtics in assists six times and dished out at least five helpers during nine contests.

Those performances weren’t exactly expected considering how the guard had performed with Memphis earlier this season.  The numbers indicate that Bayless was much more comfortable after his mid-season move to Boston.

Bayless was unquestionably a much better player for the C’s than he was with the Grizzlies.  He finished the season having hit 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers to go along with averages of 10.1 PPG, 2.1 RPG and 3.1 APG for Boston.  He had averaged just 8.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG and 2.1 APG while hitting 20.1 percent of his 3s for Memphis.

The entire package that Bayless brought to the table is exactly what a team would expect from its top man off the bench.  He was an offensive sparkplug who adapted to any role the team needed him to play, which earned him the honor of Sixth Man of the Year.

Sixth Man of the Year

Brogdon Becomes First Celtic to Earn Sixth Man of the Year Since 1986

2021 Awards Series Sixth Man of the Year: Robert Williams

2014 Awards Series Sixth Man: Jerryd Bayless