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abr 23 2026SAN ANTONIO. Keldon Johnson was named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year, becoming the second San Antonio Spurs player to win the award after Manu Ginóbili in 2008. The wing completed a season of enormous impact off the bench and reinforces the Texas franchise's outstanding individual campaign.
Keldon Johnson was the perfect sixth man for the San Antonio Spurs throughout the regular season. He played all 82 games on the schedule, all as a reserve—an uncommon mark in recent NBA history—and also set a franchise record with 1,081 points scored coming off the bench.
Johnson took home the award ahead of Jaime Jaquez Jr. of the Miami Heat and Tim Hardaway Jr. of the Denver Nuggets, the other finalists.
"I was a starter for a long time. Now it was my time to come off the bench. I just try to read the game, get in there and do my job," Keldon Johnson explained after receiving the award.
The award caps an exemplary transition for the player over the last two seasons. Johnson has played 159 games in that span, always as a reserve—something no other NBA player has matched in volume without a single start during that stretch.
