Clippers' Jamal Crawford wins NBA Sixth Man of the Year for second time
Jamal Crawford averaged 18.6 points per game for the Clippers this season. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford has been named the 2013-14 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Crawford, 34, previously won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2010 as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. A second victory ties him for the most titles in the award's history, joining Kevin McHale, Detlef Schrempf and Ricky Pierce as the only two-time winners.
Crawford received 57 first-place votes out of a possible 125 and totaled 421 points in the voting. Bulls forward Taj Gibson finished a close second with 49 first-place votes and 395 points. Spurs guard Manu Ginobili placed third with nine first-place votes and 138 points.
The race for the Sixth Man of the Year award featured a wide variety of productive reserves this season, from a defensive ace like Gibson to a gunslinging playmaker like Ginobili. Crawford, though, led all regular reserves in points per game (18.6) this season -- a criterion that award voters tend to weigh heavily in casting their ballots. That the Clippers were winners of 57 games also likely helped Crawford's cause, given that his bulk scoring contributions worked to the benefit of a contending team.
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Interestingly, Crawford actually started more than a third of his games for Los Angeles this season as a result of various injuries. His primary role was still that of a reserve, though in the last 15 years only three players (Lamar Odom, Bobby Jackson and Aaron McKie) have won the Sixth Man of the Year award while starting a greater percentage of their games played. Crawford is still eligible in that he came off the bench in more games (45) than he started (24), though circumstances with the team dictated that he not come off the bench exclusively this season.
Below is the complete voting from the NBA's release. For a individual breakdown of media voting, click here.
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