SMOY Q&A

You have questions about the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year Award? I have answers.

In the past, I’ve done Q&A’s on the MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Defensive Player of the Year Awards. Today I thought I’d take a closer look at the award with a trophy named in John Havlicek’s honor, the Sixth Man of the Year.

When was the SMOY first awarded?

The first SMOY Award was handed out after the 1982-83 season. The Philadelphia 76ers’ Bobby Jones was the inaugural winner of the award. From 1982-83 through 2001-02 voters simply selected a winner on their ballot, but in 2002-03 they switched to the current 5-3-1 voting system.

Who’s the tallest SMOY?

With a listed height of 7 feet, Roy Tarpley is the tallest recipient of the award.

Who’s the shortest SMOY?

Three players with a listed height of 6 feet 1 inch have won the award: Darrell Armstrong, Bobby Jackson, and Payton Pritchard.

What’s the median height for a SMOY?

The median height for a SMOY recipient is 6 feet 5 inches. Six winners have a listed height of exactly 6 feet 5 inches: Jamal Crawford (three times), Dell Curry, John Starks, Aaron McKie, James Harden, and Tyler Herro.

Who’s the heaviest SMOY?

Rodney Rogers had a listed weight of 270 pounds when he won the award in 1999-00.

Who’s the lightest SMOY?

Lou Williams, a three-time winner with a listed weight of 175 pounds.

What’s the median weight for a SMOY?

The median weight for a SMOY is 210 pounds.

Who’s the youngest SMOY?

Ben Gordon (22 years, 16 days*) is the youngest player to take home the trophy. Two others have won the award before turning 23 years old: Tyler Herro (22 years, 80 days) and James Harden (22 years, 244 days).

* Age computed on the last day of the regular season.

Who’s the oldest SMOY?

At 36 years and 24 days, Jamal Crawford in 2015-16 is the oldest SMOY Award winner. He’s also the second-oldest recipient of the honor at 34 years and 27 days in 2013-14.

Which SMOY scored the most points?

Lou Williams was the highest-scoring SMOY Award winner with 1,782 points in 2017-18. The highest scoring average belongs to Ricky Pierce, who averaged 23.0 PPG in 1989-90.

Which SMOY scored the fewest points?

Bill Walton scored just 606 points when he won the SMOY Award in 1985-86. He also owns the lowest scoring average at 7.6 PPG. Walton is one of only three honorees to average less than 10 PPG, the others being Bobby Jones (9.0 PPG, 1982-83) and Anthony Mason (9.9 PPG, 1994-95).