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(AP) \u2014 Keldon Johnson was the ultimate backup for the San Antonio Spurs this season.<\/p>\n
He played in all 82 games, all off the bench, becoming only the second NBA player in the last decade to do that. He became the first Spurs player to score 1,000 points as a reserve in a season. And all year long, San Antonio touted him as the best backup in the league.<\/p>\n
Voters seemed to agree \u2014 and the Spurs have another award winner.<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs guard-forward Keldon Johnson has been named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year, earning the John Havlicek Trophy. pic.twitter.com\/IpSvsiHNQ9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Johnson was announced Wednesday night as the NBA\u2019s Sixth Man of the Year, joining Manu Ginobili in 2008 as the only Spurs to win that award. It\u2019s the first individual NBA award for Johnson, who was part of the U.S. Olympic team that won gold at the Tokyo Games in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cI started for a long time,\u201d Johnson said on ESPN. \u201cNow, it\u2019s my time to come off the bench. I just continue to analyze the game, come off the bench, go in there and just do my thing.\u201d<\/p>\n The moment \ud83e\udd79 pic.twitter.com\/byEMuf9EbT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) April 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Miami\u2019s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Denver\u2019s Tim Hardaway Jr. were the other finalists. Jaquez led all reserves in scoring and double-digit games for the Heat, while Hardaway led all reserves with 205 3-pointers and was fourth in scoring for the Nuggets.<\/p>\n Hardaway and Jaquez tied for ninth in 2024. Hardaway was also fifth in 2021, 10th in 2017 and tied for 13th as a rookie in 2014.<\/p>\n Voting Results<\/p>\n It was the culmination of a two-year run like few others for Johnson, who has appeared in 159 games over the past two seasons \u2014 always coming off the bench. No other player in the NBA has played anywhere near that many games without a start in that span.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to be part of something special here in San Antonio,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI knew that in order for me to really be the best for our team that coming off the bench was probably my best possibility. At first, it was tough. I had to (control) my ego and put the team first. After that, the sky was the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n It was the third award the NBA has handed out this postseason, the second won by the Spurs and the first with any real intrigue about who was going to win.<\/p>\n On Monday, San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama was the first-ever unanimous selection as\u00a0Defensive Player of the Year<\/a>.\u00a0And on Tuesday, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City was named the\u00a0Clutch Player of the Year<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 getting 96 of the 100 possible first-place votes.<\/p>\n The league\u2019s Sportsmanship Award winner will be announced Thursday, with one player from each division \u2014 Miami\u2019s Bam Adebayo (Southeast), San Antonio\u2019s Harrison Barnes (Southwest), Gilgeous-Alexander (Northwest), Golden State\u2019s Al Horford (Pacific), Indiana\u2019s T.J. McConnell (Central) and Boston\u2019s Derrick White (Atlantic) \u2014 selected as the finalists. That award is voted on by players, not the media panel that decides most other award winners.<\/p>\n The Most Improved Player award \u2014 either Nickeil Alexander-Walker of Atlanta, Deni Avdija of Portland or Jalen Duren of Detroit \u2014 will be revealed Friday.<\/p>\n Other awards that are coming but have not had their announcement dates revealed are Coach of the Year (Detroit\u2019s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio\u2019s Mitch Johnson or Boston\u2019s Joe Mazzulla), Rookie of the Year (Philadelphia\u2019s VJ Edgecombe, Dallas\u2019 Cooper Flagg or Charlotte\u2019s Kon Knueppel) and MVP (Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver\u2019s Nikola Jokic).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/HGis-BbXcAAV5TJ-941x1176.jpeg\"){kind=spacer}
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