The only player who has come off the bench and scored astonishing 40 points this season: Utah’s Jordan Clarkson was named as NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year. This is a surprise as for the first time a Jazz player won the prestigious award.
The first runner-up and the closest competitor to claim the title was also his teammate Joe Ingles. This is the first time in history that the top two finishers for an award are from the same team.
The title was based upon votes cast by a panel of reporters covering the game league globally. Clarkson finished 65 out of 100, winning first place from his teammate. The remaining 35 votes were received by Ingles.
After the announcement; while presenting the award Ingles stated light-heartedly that he tried to get the ball to Jordan as much as possible so he could win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award. But in reality, it was the impact he had upon himself while sitting on the bench that led him to work on his game techniques and win the award.
Derrick Rose from New York came third; while Dallas players Jalen Brunson and Tim Hardaway Jr, came fourth and fifth respectively.
The reporter’s panel was asked to select the top three for the award in ascending order. The last year’s winner for the same award Montrezl Harrell who used to play for Los Angeles Clippers at that time; now represents Los Angeles Lakers finished sixth place this year.
This is a highlight for Jordan Clarkson’s career. He has averaged a career-high 18.4 points this season; while also coming on and off from the batch in 67 games this season out of 68.
Clarkson reached the height of 40 points twice this season, setting a record that led him to win the title. He finished 40 points earlier in February against Philadelphia and now against Golden State he had received 41 points in May.
Jordan is skeptically flourishing his game as a reserve role as he started 136 games over in the first three seasons of his career while starting only five games in the four seasons ever since.
After winning the award he stated “I just really accepted it and kept rolling” as he was also not expecting to win the award and it was a surprise for him. He exclaimed that he grew up watching and getting inspired by Manu Ginobli who made this role super cool for him and when he joined the sports, his role model gave him some inspirational advice along with Lou Williams who is a three-time Sixth Man award winner.
