Celtics reserve combo guard Malcolm Brogdon has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for 2022/23, the league announced on Thursday (Twitter link).
In his first season with the Celtics following a 2022 trade from Indiana, Brogdon averaged 14.9 PPG on .484/.444/.870 shooting splits. Across 67 games, the 6’5″ guard also chipped in 4.2 RPG, 3.7 APG and 0.7 SPG, and was a critical component on both sides of the ball during Boston’s 57-25 season.
Brogdon is the first Celtic to win the honor since eventual Hall of Fame center Bill Walton did so for the 1986 title team, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Brogdon’s Celtics are currently leading the Hawks 2-0 in their ongoing first-round playoff series.
As the NBA announced last week, the three finalists for the honor were Brogdon, Bucks backup big man Bobby Portis, and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley. Each would have been a first-time winner.
According to the NBA, Quickley was the runner-up in Sixth Man voting over Portis, Clippers guard Norman Powell and Kings guard Malik Monk. Brogdon received 60 first-place votes and 408 overall points, while Quickley got 34 first-place votes and 326 points. Portis earned the remaining six first-place votes and 97 points.
A total of 10 players earned at least one vote.
Earlier this week, All-Star Grizzlies power forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was honored as the NBA’s first-ever Clutch Player of the Year, and his Sacramento head coach Mike Brown won his second Coach of the Year award.
A global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters voted on all of this season’s awards recipients. The Rookie of the Year, MVP and Executive of the Year have yet to be named.
Yeah, I guess he deserves it. Portis and Quickley put in a good showing.
De’Aaron Fox is starting to look special. I’ll admit, I haven’t really watched him a lot. Like I’ve watched Grimes. Nice to see young talent grow up. Kings are a good story.
Celtics has the best bench in the east?
This is all I care.
Playoffs Stats Per Game
Points Per Game
Joel Embiid 24.0
Jayson Tatum 23.0
Rebounds Per Game
Joel Embiid 11.1
Jayson Tatum 6.9
Assists Per Game
Joel Embiid 2.9
Jayson Tatum 4.4
Steals Per Game
Joel Embiid 0.8
Jayson Tatum 1.1
Blocks Per Game
Joel Embiid 1.6
Jayson Tatum 0.9
Joel Embiid has an 8-11 record versus Jayson Tatum in his career
Bobby was robbed.
Know you’re a Bucks fan just from that.
Love to watch Portis, he plays with passion but I do think Brogdan was the right choice.
I wanted the Celtics to take Portis rather than Rozier.
Brogdon deserves it, but something about Quickley and his defensive intensity makes me think I would’ve voted for him if I was a voter.
Well they waited long enough
Get it before the minimum number of games played takes affect.
IQ had a great case. But so did Brogdon. The season long stats for both guys are impressive, but Brogdon, on a per game basis, would win by a hair. But an apples to apples comparison on those alone doesn’t do IQ justice, at least in terms of overall impact. IQ started 21 games (vs 60 off the bench), and the starts were a fairly high percentage of his most prodigious performances. Brogdon played only 67 total, all off the bench.
The 65 minimum is next year, and exceeded in any case. Doesn’t mean a voter couldn’t count the fact that IQ played 14 more games as a factor in his favor.
With his track record I wouldn’t count on him playing 65 again, so it’s kinda now or never.
Well deserved
Good for Brogdon.
Portis didn’t really need that award after winning Sucker Puncher of the Year in 2017.
Congrats to him. He never found his groove with the Pacers.
Should have gone to Quickley. One of the main qualities for a good sixth man is being reliable. Quickly only missed one game this year. He got robbed
And Brodgon missed 0 so you lost at your own comment