Rome, April 23 (LaPresse/AP) – Payton Pritchard has won this season's NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. The accolade, given to the league’s best bench player, is named after Boston Celtics legend John Havlicek. Pritchard, who plays as a guard for the Celtics, received 82 of the 100 votes from the panel deciding the NBA awards, finishing ahead of Detroit's Malik Beasley (13 votes) and Cleveland's Ty Jerome (2 votes).
This marks the crowning achievement of an outstanding season for Pritchard, who has become a fan favorite in Boston. He was the only player to score over 1,000 points in games where he did not start and set the record for most three-pointers made by a bench player.
It’s the fifth time a Celtics player has won the award: previously, Kevin McHale (1984 and 1985), Bill Walton (1986), and Malcolm Brogdon (2023) received the honor.
“It’s definitely an honor,” Pritchard said upon learning the news.
“Payton is a basketball player through and through, and his teammates know what they’re getting every single day in terms of effort, care, and commitment,” said Celtics president Brad Stevens in a statement released by the team. “The fact that he’s being honored with an award named after the great John Havlicek is a testament to everything he brings to our team,” he added.
In the coming days, more individual NBA awards will be announced: today the MVP (contenders are Jalen Brunson of New York, Anthony Edwards of Minnesota, and Nikola Jokic of Denver), and tomorrow the Defensive Player of the Year (between Dyson Daniels of Atlanta, Draymond Green of Golden State, and Evan Mobley of Cleveland).