Keldon Johnson Turns Emotional After Winning Sixth Man of the Year: “My Grandad’s Been Fighting Cancer”

The gesture, the award, and a difficult year left him visibly emotional and choking on his words for understandable reasons he revealed to the room. “This year has been the toughest of my life,” Johnson admitted at the Spurs’ practice facility. “My granddad’s been fighting cancer. So… my parents have been in and out, like they haven’t really been here as much. They’re like my best friends. So not really having them here and going through the season, it’s been tough.”

His family’s current battle obviously puts a bittersweet note to this major milestone. Johnson, who played all 82 games this season, didn’t show that he was balancing between professional excellence with personal grief for a whole year with the help of his team.

“Knowing what I have going on, I feel like I was able to come here and my teammates picked me up,” he said through tears. “It’s just one big family.”

The Spurs family bond showed through their Longhorn Ranch tribute at the presser. “That was probably the best moment of my life,” Johnson remarked, sporting his signature boots and hat.

The Spurs are historically known to prioritize the mental and physical health of their players to extend their careers. While Johnson was making a league record, the Spurs filled the void of his family. With his parents frequently away to support his grandfather’s medical battle, Johnson credited the Spurs organization for acting as his surrogate family.

Keldon Johnson’s transformative year towards the 6MOTY Award

Almost a year ago, Johnson received two pieces of news that likely changed his life’s plans. One was his grandfather’s diagnosis. Another was from Pop.

For at least three of the seven seasons he’s been with the Spurs, Keldon Johnson was the primary scoring option for the team. Then Victor Wembanyama arrived and later Stephon Castle and they needed an impactful player to lead the B-team. Gregg Popovich and the current coach, Mitch Johnson decided that the longest tenured player on the Spurs roster would fit the role.

The award is a crowning achievement for this player who famously sacrificed his starting role to help the team. The results were historic. Johnson recorded 1,081 bench points this season, breaking the franchise record previously held by Gin0bili and making the second-best bench points record of the season. Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored the most points by a player off the bench this season, with 1,138 points. However, Johnson ultimately beat Jaquez and Denver’s Tim Hardaway Jr for 6MOTY.

His impact was felt most by his teammates, particularly Victor Wembanyama, who lobbied for Johnson’s recognition as early as March, when the Spurs clinched playoff berth for the first time since 2019 (when Johnson was drafted). “He has sacrificed more than anybody on this team,” Wembanyama said. “He’s the soul of this team, and he brings energy no matter what time of the day.”

Johnson’s efficiency skyrocketed in his new role, as he averaged 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds on a career-high 52% shooting from the field. Newly acquired star De’Aaron Fox, who sacrificed individual stat-padding to adapt to the Spurs, declared Johnson’s willingness to embrace a bench role as the catalyst for the Spurs’ 60-win season. “He knows that we need him to come out and be aggressive,” Fox said.

As the Spurs prepare for a difficult Game 3 possibly without Victor Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson’s Sixth Man of the Year trophy represents a lot more than a statistical accomplishment. As he said, it stands as a testament to a team that’s helped him through a battle bigger than basketball.