Spurs' Keldon Johnson wins Sixth Man of the Year

The San Antonio Spurs picked up another award on Wednesday, with Keldon Johnson earning Sixth Man of the Year honors. Johnson beat out the Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the Denver Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. to earn his first NBA honor.

Johnson played in all 82 games this season, averaging more than 23 minutes per contest off the bench. He pitched in an average of 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game within those limited minutes, too, while making a clear impact for the surging Spurs.

Johnson was selected No. 29 overall by the Spurs in 2019, and he took up a spot as a starter in the 2020-21 season. But with the arrival of 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, Johnson’s starts were cut down, but the 26-year-old has since become a key piece of the Spurs’ bench.

This year, Johnson worked primarily behind Castle at shooting guard, but also operated as a backup small forward and power forward in a pinch. Johnson finished the year with 13 games scoring 20-plus points, including a season-high 27 points twice; he also put up five double-doubles on the year with points and rebounds.

Johnson set a franchise record this season with 1,081 points off the bench, too, which surpassed the mark Manu Ginóbili set in 2007-08 when he won Sixth Man of the Year honors. Those two are now the only Spurs players in history to win the award.

Jaquez came in second in the voting on Wednesday, and Hardaway finished in third.

Johnson becomes the second Spurs player to win an NBA award this week, joining Victor Wembanyama, who was unanimously named Defensive Player of the Year on Monday. Wembanyama is also for NBA MVP, while Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson has been nominated for Coach of the Year .