Clippers' Jamal Crawford named NBA's Sixth Man of the Year

Now the first player in history to win the award three times, Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford is the 2016 NBA Sixth man of the Year.

He’s done it again. Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford has been named as the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for 2016, making him the first player in history to win the award three times. His first came in 2009-10 with the Atlanta Hawks and he’s now won two with the Clippers, which speaks volumes about the longevity of his scoring stroke off the bench and how much of an impact he can have with his shot creation into the later years of his career.

Without taking anything away from Crawford, who had a great second half to the season and came up for the Clippers in so many big moments, it’s a little surprising he won the award. His shooting percentages were poor over the first couple of months of the season, shooting 31.5 percent from three and 36.5 percent overall until Blake Griffin‘s injury at Christmas.

Since then, the recency factor has come into play. Crawford has been huge for the Clippers’ bench as he always has been, creating wild shots off the dribble and crossing up opponents as if he’s an energetic 26-year-old, not a 36-year-old who’s been in the NBA for 16 years.

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After Griffin’s injury, Crawford turned around his field goal percentage to 42.2 and made 35.2 percent of his threes, burying 1.7 shots from behind the arc a night. With that increased (albeit streaky) efficiency, he averaged 15.9 points per game and tallied two 30-point and countless 20-point games.

At the end of the season, he finished with 14.2 points (the most for a bench player on a playoff team), 2.3 assists and 0.7 steals per game, shooting 34 percent from three and 40.4 percent overall.

Add in a bunch of clutch shots and game winners into the equation, and it’s clear the run-and-gun offense earned him the 1st place finish in the voting. And as that elevated performance came in a time when the Clippers needed it most without Griffin, it must be why voters were compelled to award Crawford for his much-needed efforts.

Because when bearing in mind his efficiency, shot selection, and poor defense, it’s easy to make the argument that other players were more deserving.

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After the Golden State Warriors won a remarkable 73 games, many expected that Andre Iguodala would have become the Sixth Man of the Year. His impact goes far beyond obvious numbers, which may be way he was reduced to 2nd place.

He’s so vital to the offense with the way he can set up the team and create for the likes of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson with excellent passes, before heading down the court to play stellar defense on any wing player necessary. For such valuable yet overlooked contributions in every aspect of the game, many will be surprised to see Iguodala’s votes come up short.

As for some other top candidates, the terrific double-double machine Enes Kanter and dynamic breakout scorer Will Barton were thoroughly deserving of finishing in 3rd and 4th, respectively.

Here’s the entire list (via NBA.com):

Jamal Crawford | L.A. Clippers | 51 | 23 | 17 | 341

Andre Iguodala | Golden State Warriors | 33 | 35 | 18 | 288

Enes Kanter | Oklahoma City Thunder | 19 | 20 | 27 | 182

Will Barton | Denver Nuggets | 15 | 21 | 20 | 158

Evan Turner | Boston Celtics | 3 | 7 | 10 | 46

Ryan Anderson | New Orleans Pelicans | 4 | 6 | 5 | 43

Jeremy Lin | Charlotte Hornets | 1 | 6 | 7 | 30

Ed Davis | Portland Trail Blazers | 1 | 5 | 1 | 21

Dennis Schröder | Atlanta Hawks | 1 | 2 | 6 | 17

Tristan Thompson | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2 | 0 | 6 | 16

Shaun Livingston | Golden State Warriors | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7

J.J. Barea | Dallas Mavericks | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5

Boris Diaw | San Antonio Spurs | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5

Zach LaVine | Minnesota Timberwolves | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4

Darren Collison | Sacramento Kings | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3

Allen Crabbe | Portland Trail Blazers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

Jrue Holiday | New Orleans Pelicans | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

Patrick Patterson | Toronto Raptors | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

Mirza Teletovic | Phoenix Suns | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1

Next: Clippers-Trail Blazers Game 1: 5 things we learned

Now, all that’s left in the NBA awards race for the Clippers to see where Chris Paul comes in the MVP voting behind Curry. But more so than any individual trophies, the Clippers are fully focussed on the playoffs.

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Clippers’ Jamal Crawford named NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year

By Tom West | Apr 19, 2016

Now the first player in history to win the award three times, Los Angeles Clippers shooting guard Jamal Crawford is the 2016 NBA Sixth man of the Year.

More from Clipperholics