Keldon Johnson won Sixth Man of the Year for the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, giving the team its second major award of the week and its first bench honor since Manu Ginóbili took the prize in 2008. Johnson beat the Miami Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. and the Denver Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. for the award.
Johnson played in all 82 games and averaged more than 23 minutes per game off the bench, producing 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists a night. He finished with 13 games of 20-plus points, had five double-doubles in points and rebounds and scored 27 points twice in his season-high effort.
The award capped a season in which Johnson, selected No. 29 overall by the Spurs in 2019, shifted into a reserve role after starting in the 2020-21 season. His starts were limited after the arrival of 2025 Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, and he worked primarily behind Castle at shooting guard while also filling in at small forward and power forward when needed.
Johnson’s production off the bench was enough to reset the franchise record. He finished with 1,081 points off the bench, surpassing the mark Ginóbili set in 2007-08, and became only the second Spurs player in history to win Sixth Man of the Year. Ginóbili was also the only previous Spurs player to do it.
The honor lands while San Antonio is still playing. The Spurs are in a first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers that was tied 1-1 after two games in San Antonio, and Victor Wembanyama was lost to a concussion on Tuesday night. Game 3 was set for Friday in Portland, with the club also awaiting word on Coach of the Year nominee Mitch Johnson after Wembanyama was unanimously named Defensive Player of the Year on Monday.