Atlanta's Crawford nabs honors as league's tops off bench

The Atlanta Hawks' Jamal Crawford, who came off the bench in all 79 games in which he appeared this season, is the winner of the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man Award presented by Kia Motors as the league's best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced Tuesday.

Crawford received 580 of a possible 610 points, including 110 of a possible 122 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the award last season, finished second with 220 points and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers finished third with 126 points.

In order to be eligible, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

As part of its support of the Sixth Man Award, Kia Motors America will donate a 2011 Kia Sorento CUV on behalf of Crawford to Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Kia Motors will present a brand new Sorento, the Official Vehicle of the NBA, to the charity of choice of each of four 2009-10 season-end award winners as part of the "The NBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors." Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 12 new vehicles to charity since the program began in 2008.

Crawford, Atlanta's second leading scorer at 18 points a game, led the league in that category among players who didn't start a game and paced the team in scoring 27 times. He ranked seventh overall in 3-point field goals (163) and 18th in free-throw percentage (.857). Over the last 40 years, only Ricky Pierce (1989-90, 23.0 ppg) posted a higher scoring average without starting a single game. His 163 three-pointers were the second most by a bench player since Chuck Person of the Indiana Pacers connected for 164 in 1991-92. Crawford recorded nine four-point plays, bringing his all-time NBA-leading career total to 28. The 6-foot-5 guard scored at least 20 points 32 times, including one 30-point effort. Crawford scored his 10,000th career point at Golden State Feb. 21, and dished out his 2,500th career assist at Sacramento Nov. 4.



Sixth Man Award winners
Year         Player, team
1982-83     Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
1983-84     Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
1984-85     Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
1985-86     Bill Walton, Boston Celtics
1986-87     Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
1987-88     Roy Tarpley, Dallas Mavericks
1988-89     Eddie Johnson, Phoenix Suns
1989-90     Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
1990-91     Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers
1991-92     Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers
1992-93     Clifford Robinson, Trail Blazers
1993-94     Dell Curry, Charlotte Hornets
1994-95     Anthony Mason, New York Knicks
1995-96     Toni Kukoc, Chicago Bulls
1996-97     John Starks, New York Knicks
1997-98     Danny Manning, Phoenix Suns
1998-99     Darrell Armstrong, Orlando Magic
1999-00     Rodney Rogers, Phoenix Suns
2000-01     Aaron McKie, Philadelphia 76ers
2001-02     Corliss Williamson, Detroit Pistons
2002-03     Bobby Jackson, Kings
2003-04     Antawn Jamison, Dallas Mavericks
2004-05     Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls
2005-06     Mike Miller, Memphis Grizzlies
2006-07     Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix Suns
2007-08     Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
2008-09     Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks
2009-10     Jamal Crawford, Atlanta Hawks