The San Antonio Spurs have been one of the best teams in the NBA this season, with Victor Wembanyama making his case for the league’s MVP Award. But the Spurs could have another postseason awards candidate with Keldon Johnson in the running for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
During a recent appearance on NBA Prime, Amazon Prime’s new NBA show Keldon Johnson laid out the reasoning as to why he believes he should be in the running for the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
“When it comes to the Sixth Man award, I feel like I’ve played every game this season,” Johnson said, “I’m very efficient, I’m a star in my role and my team is winning. I feel like when you put those things together, why not? How can you not say I’m the Sixth Man of the Year? I feel like I show up every day and I do what I do.”
The No. 29 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, Johnson has emerged as one of the Spurs’ most consistent players as they prepare for a playoff run.
This season, he’s appeared in 73 games, at a little over 23 minutes per game. He’s averaging 13.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists with splits of 53 percent shooting from the field, 37.6 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 79.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Last season, Johnson played in 77 games, and this year he’s on pace to play all 82 with nine games remaining in the regular season schedule. This is the second straight season Johnson has settled into a reserve role, a role he’s thrived in.
