Payton Pritchard has been named the NBA`s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2024-25 season. The league announced the award on Tuesday, noting that Pritchard received 82 first-place votes.
Pritchard is now the fourth player from the Boston Celtics franchise to earn this recognition, joining previous winners Kevin McHale (a two-time recipient), Bill Walton, and Malcolm Brogdon. The award itself fittingly bears the name of Celtics legend John Havlicek, widely credited with originating the sixth man role in basketball. While the award wasn`t established during Havlicek`s Hall of Fame career, many Celtics players who followed in his footsteps have been honored for their contributions off the bench. Pritchard now joins this distinguished lineage.
In the voting, Detroit`s Malik Beasley finished second with 13 first-place votes. No other player garnered more than two first-place votes.
Pritchard`s achievement stands out somewhat from recent trends for this award. While some past Sixth Man winners have bolstered their statistics by occasionally starting games (like Naz Reid last season), Pritchard was primarily a reserve. Over his 80 appearances this season, he started only three times. These starts occurred late in the season when Boston was resting starters and their playoff seed was secured. During the most competitive part of the schedule, Pritchard operated exclusively as a bench player but proved to be one of the NBA`s most effective reserves.
Among eligible candidates for the award, only De`Andre Hunter and Beasley posted higher scoring averages. Pritchard averaged 14 points per contest for Boston, demonstrating impressive shooting efficiency at 47.2% from the field and 41.1% from three-point range. Coupled with significant improvements in his passing and defense, this makes Pritchard one of the league`s more complete guards.
For a seasoned Celtics team focused on navigating the regular season schedule, Pritchard`s spark and production off the bench were crucial. With players like Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown experiencing quieter statistical seasons, and Al Horford being 38 years old, Boston frequently relied on Pritchard to energize the team during difficult stretches or slower nights. While Brad Stevens, the President of Basketball Operations, won Executive of the Year last season, no Celtics player received an individual award during their championship campaign. Pritchard now breaks that pattern as the team aims to defend its title.
Jasper Hawthorne