Explosive New York Knicks guard, J.R. Smith, has been officially awarded the 2012-13 Sixth Man Award.
The NBA says the 27-year-old received 484 points, including 72 first-place votes, from a panel of 121 writers and broadcasters to walk away the Sixth Man. The Clippers' Jamal Crawford finished second with 352 points, getting 31 first-place votes.
"I just wanted to show everybody that I could be a team guy and it's all about the team," Smith said at a news conference.
This season, Smith averaged 18.1 points in 80 games, all coming off the bench. During those 80 games, he had 29 games where he scored 20 points or more, while in three games, he scored 30 or more points.
"I'm so proud of him, in terms of buying into what we wanted him to do earlier in the season," coach Mike Woodson said. "And, it started this summer. I wasn't going to start him, coming into this year, and I knew that. And, he bought in. He didn't like it, but he bought in. And, it couldn't have happened to a better person, because he put in the time and he worked his butt off to get to this point, and he got rewarded for it. I'm happy for him."
Smith's team player mentality, and contribution off the bench, helped the Knicks win the Atlantic Division title for the first time since 1994. New York is the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference,
He is the third player in Knicks history to win the NBA's Sixth Man Award, joining John Starks (1996-97) and Anthony Mason (1994-95).
No comments:
Post a Comment