Malcolm Brogdon won the Sixth Man of the Year award Thursday night, an award now named the John Havlicek award after the legendary Celtics sixth man. Brogdon joins Kevin McHale and Bill Walton as winners of the award.
“From day one, Malcolm has eagerly embraced his role as a game changer off the bench,” Brad Stevens said in a statement. “His emphasis on winning has been reflected daily in his work, his play, and his selflessness. Malcolm winning the award named after John Havlicek, an all-time Celtic, could not be more appropriate.”
Brogdon got 60 first-place votes, 26 more than second-place finisher Immanuel Quickley of the New York Knicks.
"It’s awesome to be to be mentioned with those other guys," Brogdon said earlier this week. "As I've said before, these are team awards. It takes a team to get an All-NBA to get an All-Star to get 6th man, defensive player. ... (but) it's always good to get recognition for what you're doing. For your sacrifice, for your work. It's definitely nice."
Brogdon, the former Rookie of the Year, finished the year ranked fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage with a career single-season high 44.4 percent from beyond the arc. He tied Ray Allen (2010-11) for the third-best single-season three-point percentage by a Celtic since 1979 behind Allen’s 2011-12 season (45.3%) and Al Horford this season (44.6%). Brogdon was the only player in the NBA ranking in the top three in scoring, rebounding, and assists among players who didn’t start in a regular-season game as he finished with 14.9 points (1st), 4.2 rebounds (3rd), and 3.7 assists (2nd).
Brogdon came to the Celtics in an offseason trade that included Aaron Nesmith and Daniel Theis. He came into this season having started every game he played over the course of four seasons. He started none this season.
"Brad was very up front about that coming off the bench. But I was all for it—am all for it—and I knew it would be a very fluid situation," Brogdon said. "And for me, it’s about understanding that, embracing it, and continuing to embrace it for 82 games and the playoffs. I feel like that’s what I’ve done. That’s what I’ve tried to do to the best of my ability. As far as us being successful, this is exactly what I thought. I thought I’d be coming to a championship team. That’s what we have here."
There was some question about Quickley's candidacy would derail Brogdon's path to the award. Quickley finished the season also averaging 14.9 points per game and 4.2 rebounds, and he was just behind Brogdon in assists per game (3.4). But he started 21 games, and averaged 22.6/5.4/5.1 as a starter, giving him 61 games at 12.3/3.7/2.9 as a reserve. It would appear voters took the 21 starts to Brogdon's zero into account when voting.