LA Clippers 6th Man of the Year: Marcus Morris
The question of who should win the sixth man award amongst the LA Clippers reserves was the toughest of this award season. It was months of impassioned arguing amongst the dozens of people who make these decisions here at Clipperholics.
Okay, so it was actually a Slack message asking if Marcus Morris was the Sixth Man, and unanimous agreement. But still.
Mook has come off of an injury to start the season and resumed the hot shooting he showed in the bubble last season, immediately putting up 5 threes a game and shooting 48.6% from deep. He is scoring efficiently while being one of the only people, besides Ivica Zubac, who can play defense off the bench.
But Marcus Morris doesn’t win this award purely on the strength of his performance. That helps, but it’s not the primary reason. What pushes his 6MOY case over the top is his willingness to be a reserve player.
When the aforementioned Nicolas Batum exploded in his role as a starter, the rhetoric throughout Clipper Nation was whether Lue would choose Nic or Mook to be the starting power forward. But as it turned out, Morris made the decision himself. He approached Lue and told him that the starters were clicking with Batum in the rotation, and decided that he wouldn’t put that into jeopardy by taking the starting role.
It’s that willingness to do whatever the team wants that pushes Marcus Morris to the front of the line for this award. The 6th Man of the Year should do everything he can to help the team win, and Morris’ attitude clearly shows that he’s ready to do that. For that, Marcus Morris wins the Seth Kimbrell 6MOTY Award Through 15 Games.