Keldon Johnson Wins NBA Sixth Man Award

0:00On April 22nd, Keldin Johnson just snagged the Kia NBA 6-Man of the Year award, becoming the second Kentucky Wildcat to claim that hardware. The 6-foot-5 forward from the Spurs edged out Miami's Jamie Jock has Jr. and Denver's Tim Hardaway Jr. with 404 votes, including 63 first place nods. Drafted 29th overall back in 2019, he's now the longest tenured guy on the San Antonio roster. Starting off the bench all season, Johnson averaged 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in just 23. Point three minutes per game. He shot a career high 51.9% from the field and led the entire league with 1081 bench points. No starts in 82 games, but he lit it up consistently. For the Spurs, who finished 62 and 20 as the West's number two seed, Johnson ranked fifth in scoring and third in rebounds. He dropped double figures in 58 games, that's over 70% of his appearances, helping San

1:02Antonio rank 9th league wide with 41.4 bench points per game. Dude was pure, spark plug energy. Flashback to Kentucky, where Johnson balled one season in 2017-18 as SEC freshman of the year, averaging 13.5 points, and 5.9 boards while starting 36 games for an Elite 18. He joins teammate Tyler Harrow, who grabbed this award in 2022, as the only Wildcats with the honor. Kentucky's NBA pipeline stays hot, with shy Gilgis, Alexander, nabbing clutch player of the year this week too. Wildcats have snagged major awards every year since 2021, proving that big blue blood runs deep in the pros.