The NBA has officially announced that Heat guard Taylor Hiro won the league's best sixth man of the 2021-22 season. According to the official results of the vote, Hiro reached the top of the award by absolute superiority - he received 96 of the 100 first votes, with a total score of 488 points, and the second-place Kevin Luck scored a total of 214 points.
In a sense, Taylor Hiro's best sixth-man award is undoubtedly well deserved, and this season the young player has performed quite well, coming out of the previously questioned form. Hiro is considered to have the potential of a star player in the new season, and the 13th pick in the first round is even more imaginative, but his growth rate is not as fast as expected.
Entering the second season of his career, Hiro did not make much of a breakthrough, but this season, Hiro has improved a lot, and his importance with the Heat has also increased.
Hiro has played in 60 games for the Heat this season, 56 of them as a substitute, and he has averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 60 games. Hiro's average of points and assists per game this season has set a new season high, and rebounds have also tied his season record.
It is worth saying that Hiro has averaged 20.7 points per game this season, ranking fourth among the league's all-time substitutes. Three players who played as a substitute and averaged more points per game than Hiroshi were Ricky Pierce in 1989–90 (23.0 points), Louis Williams (21.9 points) in 2017–18 and Eddie Johnson (21.3 points) in 1988–89.
That season, all three players also won the best sixth man award.
Hiro's rookie season was a blockbuster, but the second season of his career was like "hitting a wall", and the shooting rate declined to a certain extent, especially the performance in the playoffs was a disastrous season. But this season he regained himself, fully displayed his talent in the team's second team, and he also became an indispensable player for the Heat.
Chris Hiro – Taylor Hiro's father proudly said: "There have been a few games this season where he [Hiro] has been bad and people are starting to be skeptical of him, people are saying 'will he still be that killer', what are you talking about? He's been doing that all season, and if the Miami Heat didn't have Giro, they would have a 50 percent chance of winning, so let's be realistic. ”
Well, when Hiro performed well, the old man was also full of confidence when he spoke.
In fact, the Heat's expectations for Giro are relatively high, and although Hiro has been caught up in trading rumors many times, the Heat have always had great trust in Giro's ability. Heat president Pat Riley has long said that Hiro is a core player and he has confidence in the young player who has trained hard.
By the time of the playoffs this season, Hiro's performance had some ups and downs, but he regained form against the 76ers in the semifinals, and in the first meeting between the two sides in the series, he had 25 points and seven assists. The Heat need Giro to lead the second team, and if the team wants to compete for the championship, Giro is naturally one of the team's most critical players.
(Text/Yan Wujun)