The best players in the NBA don't always start the Five Tigers.
Since legendary Boston Celtics Cardinal Reed Auerbach realized that bench players needed further firepower, the sixth man has carved out his own path as a dynamic stormtrooper, microwave scorer and rhythm-changing player.
Manu Ginobili, who entered the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, is the epitome of modern super-bench. He's clearly talented enough to be a starter, but he brings the most value to the San Antonio Spurs as a disruptor of the second-team and finisher of key moments.
But did he handle the role better than anyone else of his time?
To explore this question, let's take a look at the best sixth-person scenarios for 2000 and beyond:
First, let's take a look at the honorary award winners given by netizens:
★ James Harden
Before Harden's stats exploded, he had struck everyone off the bench for the Oklahoma City Thunder in his previous three seasons, averaging 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 49.1/39.0/84.6 from the field.
While the effort earned him the honor of The Sixth Man of the Year, it also ended his status as a super substitute. The Houston Rockets snatched him away that offseason and quickly became the team's boss. Obviously, for Space City, this is a wonderful move.
★ Andrei Iguodala
Iguodala's golden years were an important starter, and even the Philadelphia 76ers' first focus in the post-Alan Iverson era. However, Iguodala's move to the second lineup is the final key to unlocking the Golden State Warriors dynasty.
Of course, the Golden State Warriors' roster is so deep that Iguodala's personal data is under control, and the spotlight doesn't often capture his defensive advantage. It's worth noting, though, that when he defended with all his might against LeBron James and won the 2015 Finals MVP, he made his debut in the final three games of the series.
★ Lamar Odom
While most sixth-man is a fast-attacking point guard, Odom broke with the norm to become a 6-foot-10-inch, 220-pound player who played as a forward and took on a lot of organizational work for the Los Angeles Lakers. He always helps the team win in a personal way, and people don't always see that in his numbers.
He won two los Angeles-of-the-league titles (2009 and 2010), and his overall output in 2010-11 — 14.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists — earned him the honor of Sixth Man of the Year.
Let's take a look at the ranking of the best sixth person in modern times by netizens:
5. Leandro Barbosa
Although the Phoenix Suns, who had an offensive time of "seven seconds or less" that year, had a lot of talent, Barbosa had a top talent that no one else could match.
Aptly nicknamed the Brazilian, he would pass the defenders and score points before the defenders reacted, and he often ignited the team's passion in offensive and defensive transitions.
"You have to pay attention to him all the time," Sean Livingston, who later worked with Barbosa in the Golden State, said in a 2016 interview, "because if you don't do that, you won't find him."
While Phoenix's frantic pace may have exaggerated Barbosa's stats, his output is still incredible. Between 2005-06 and 2008-09, he averaged 15.4 points, 3.0 assists and 2.7 rebounds and 47.4/41.0/83.1 shooting per game. He won Sixth Man of the Year in 2006–07.
4. Jason Terry
As a two-legged defender who can find shooting opportunities for himself and his teammates, he is the perfect catalyst for the Lone Rangers' second lineup. In his first season as a super substitute (2007-08), he averaged 15.5 points per game (46.7 percent from the field) and 3.2 assists (1.1 turnovers). In his second season, he won sixth man of the year with 19.6 points, 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 46.3/36.6/88.0 from the field.
"He's great in the dressing room, he's one of our spiritual leaders and always gets the audience excited," Dirk Nowitzki told reporters, "He's one of the best key players I've ever seen."
As if to prove his teammates' vision was correct, Terry did his best for the Lone Rangers' most important moments. In the 2011 Finals, if Nowitzki was compared to Batman, Terry played the role of Robin, averaging the second-highest score per game in Dallas (49.4/39.3/75.0 shooting 18.0 points) and beating LeBron James on a key three-pointer to shoot one of the series' iconic baskets.
3. Jamal Crawford
Jamal Crawford's performance on the court is as silky as having a gamepad in the NBA 2K, and he can launch offense from anywhere and an overwhelming stream of points, pouring everything on the court.
His style energizes fans and teammates, but that comes from his hard work. Only 63 players in this league have scored 19,000 career points, and Crawford is one of them, an impressive feat considering he starts in less than a third of the games and has averaged just over 20 points per game in his 20 seasons.
He knows how to get into the scoring state quickly. Between 2009-10 and 2015-16, he averaged 15.9 points per 28.9 minutes per game (19.8 points per 36 minutes). During those seven seasons, he became the league's first three-time Sixth Man of the Year (now the same number two on our list).
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters in 2016: "This award may be renamed the 'Jamal Crawford Award' at some point. Not many people do better than Jamal on the bench. ”
Many could make a compelling case for Crawford to be number one, but at the same time, he's in third place on the list due to his medium efficiency (41% shooting percentage in his career) and defensive struggles.
2. Louis Williams
No one has mastered the art of second-line scoring as Williams.
While many sixths adapted to the role immediately after the transition from the starter, Williams was essentially a hit in the position at breakneck speed. Even after his popularity and output increased, he never made it into the starting lineup. He has never started more than 38 in a season, and has only started in more than half of the games in two seasons.
"I've learned to accept my role and I think that's what makes it special," Williams said.
Williams is the NBA's all-time bench score leader. If we follow the simple selection of the highest-scoring substitute, Williams will lock in first place. However, since this role is more than just scoring, he will have to be relegated to the second place on this list.
1. Manu Ginobili
You can find super-substitutes on this list who score more than Ginobili and maybe someone who can beat him in a one-on-one match.
However, what's harder for you to find is another person who has left a greater influence in the game of basketball. He wasn't the first to introduce the European step, but he weaponized it in such an elegant, unpredictable way that his contemporaries had no choice but to imitate the Argentine swing man.
"He changed the style, he did a lot of things, and everyone in America started to follow suit," said Greg Popovich, a longtime San Antonio Spurs coach.
While often technically deployed as San Antonio's sixth man, Ginobili is a key member of the Spurs' Big Three, a talented, highly successful trio made up of him and Tim Duncan and Tony Parker. Ginobili helped spurs win four championships in 11 years, three of which were played primarily as a substitute.
Somehow he only won the Sixth Man of the Year award once, but he could have won it six times. In the same season (2007–08), he also won a third team position of the year, becoming the only player ever to receive both honors in the same season.
His incredible performance from the 57th pick of the 1999 draft to his induction into the Hall of Fame is undoubtedly a legendary story that will be passed down from generation to generation by basketball fans.
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