Boston basketball player Peyton Pritchard has been named the NBA's Sixth Player of the Year for the 2024/25 season.
The Sixth Player of the Year award is given to the best player who predominantly starts games as a substitute, and its winner is voted for by a global panel of 100 journalists.
Pritchard received 82 of the 100 possible first-place votes. Detroit guard Malik Beasley was second in the voting with 13 first-place votes, while Cleveland players Ty Jerome and Deandre Hunter took third and fourth place with two first-place votes each.
The remaining vote for first place went to last year's winner of this award, Minnesota center Naz Reed, while Timberwolves winger Nickel Alexander-Walker, Denver point guard Russell Westbrook and Oklahoma guard Alex Caruso also received votes for the other spots.
Pritchard played 28,4 minutes per game during the regular season and during that time averaged 14,3 points, 3,8 rebounds and 3,5 assists, for the Boston team that finished second in the Eastern Conference standings with a score of 61/21.
The Boston point guard was the only player to score over 1.000 points in games he didn't start, and Pritchard also set the NBA record for most three-pointers made as a reserve.
"I'm definitely honored. It took some getting used to after college. Everything was going through me there, and then when I came here I started playing with a lot of stars and it's a different feeling. I feel like I'm still improving at that, but it's just reading the game, knowing when the defense is going to focus more on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and leave holes for me. You have to take advantage of those opportunities," Pritchard said.
This is the fifth time a Boston player has won the award, named after Celtics legend John Havlicek. Kevin McCale won the award in 1984 and 1985, Bill Walton won it in 1986, and Malcolm Brogdon was named the 2022-23 Sixth Man of the Year.
Next up is the announcement of the winner of the award for the best "clutch" player, whose finalist is Serbian national team player Nikola Jokić, after which the NBA's best defensive player will also be named.
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