Los Angeles Clippers reserve guard Jamal Crawford was named the 2015-16 KIA NBA Sixth Man of the Year, the third of his career. Winning it the third time isn’t the only NBA record Crawford broke with this announcement.
At 36 years old, he is the oldest NBA player ever to be named Sixth Man of the Year, breaking his own record from two years ago.
A 16 year NBA veteran, Crawford previously won the award with the Atlanta Hawks during the 2009-10 season and with his current team the Clippers during the 2013-14 campaign. When he was named Sixth Man of the Year two years ago with the Clippers, he joined the likes of Kevin McHale, Ricky Pierce and Detlef Schrempf to win the award twice.
He now stands alone being a three-time winner. The official twitter account of the Clippers, were the first to make the official announcement:
The Balloting was done from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters across United States and Canada. A first place vote nets 5 points, second place vote is worth 3 points and the third place adds one point to the respective players tally.
Crawford received 51 first place votes and a point total of 341. 2015 NBA Finals MVP Andre Iguodala finished second with a point tally of 288 points (33 first place votes) while Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter came third with 182 points (19 first place votes).
Here’s Matt Dollinger, NBA Editor for SI.com, sharing the balloting results on twitter:
Deserving award
Even at the ripe age of 36, Crawford still has the handles, the moves and the offensive spark that the Clippers so badly need from their bench. In 79 games this past season, Crawford averaged 14.2 points, 2.3 assists and 1.8 rebounds while shooting 40.4% from the field, 34% from beyond the arc and 90.4% (second in the league) from the free throw line in 27 minutes of playing time.
He scored 15+ points off the bench 33 times this season, third most in the NBA behind Denver Nuggets guard Will Barton (38) and New Orleans Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson (36). In the 79 games he played, he started five times, scoring 30+ points in four of those games.
His effort off the bench is a major factor to the Los Angeles Clippers registering a regular season record of 53-29, their fourth straight 50+ win season.
Crawford will be presented his trophy in front of the fans when the Clippers take on the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday for Game 2 of their first round match-up. The Clips won Game 1 behind monster game by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Teammates take to Twitter to congratulate:
Some of Crawford’s jubilant teammates and other NBA players took to Twitter to congratulate him:
Guess the Lakers players!
