Crawford Wins NBA's Sixth Man Award

Jamal Crawford's off-the-bench boosts all season long helped lift the Atlanta Hawks into the 2009-10 NBA playoffs.

For that, the 10th-year guard out of Michigan was named Tuesday as the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year.

Crawford ran off with the honor, with a total of 580 votes - including 110 first-place votes - in balloting of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters who regularly cover the league.

The next-closest player was Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry, who won the award last season and finished with 220 votes - including six first-place votes - this year.

Crawford joined the Hawks before the 2009-10 season after Golden State traded him for Speedy Claxton and Acie Law. He accepted a reserve role for the first time in his career in exchange for a chance to make the playoffs, also for the first time in his career.

It was a win-win scenario: The Hawks got an unselfish super-sub - a scoring threat off the bench who provided 18 points and three assists per game - and Crawford got that postseason berth he had coveted as the Hawks secured the Eastern Conference's No. 3 seed and a first-round NBA playoff matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks.

And coming off the bench hardly dented Crawford's playing time or production; he averaged 31.1 minutes per game, and his 18 points were second-best on the team. He also hit 163 three-pointers and shot 85.7 percent from the free-throw line.

2009-10 NBA Sixth Man of the Year Voting
(First-place votes in parentheses)

1. Jamal Crawford, Atlanta, 580 (110)
2. Jason Terry, Dallas, 220 (6)
3. Anderson Varejao, Cleveland, 126 (2)
4. Manu Ginobili, San Antonio, 75 (2)
5. JR Smith, Denver, 33
6. Lamar Odom, L.A. Lakers, 25 (1)
7. Paul Millsap, Utah, 15 (1)
8. Carl Landry, Saramento, 12
9. Udonis Haslem, Miami, 5
10. Marcus Thornton, New Orleans, 3
11. Kyle Lowry, Houston, 1
12. Jared Dudley, Phoenix, 1
13. Kevin Love, Minnnesota, 1
14. Al Harrington, New York, 1

NBA Sixth Man of the Year All-Time Winners

2010: Jamal Crawford, Atlanta
2009: Jason Terry, Dallas
2008: Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
2007: Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix
2006: Mike Miller, Memphis
2005: Ben Gordon, Chicago
2004: Antawn Jamison, Dallas
2003: Bobby Jackson, Sacramento
2002: Corliss Williamson, Detroit
2001: Aaron McKie, Philadelphia
2000: Rodney Rogers, Phoenix
1999: Darrell Armstrong, Orlando
1998: Danny Manning, Phoenix
1997: John Starks, New York
1996: Toni Kukoc, Chicago
1995: Anthony Mason, New York
1994: Dell Curry, Charlotte
1993: Clifford Robinson, Portland
1992: Detlef Schrempf, Indiana
1991: Detlef Schrempf, Indiana
1990: Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee
1989: Eddie Johnson, Phoenix
1988: Roy Tarpley, Dallas
1987: Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee
1986: Bill Walton, Boston
1985: Kevin McHale, Boston
1984: Kevin McHale, Boston
1983: Bobby Jones, Philadelphia

Jamal Crawford, NBA
Atlanta's Crawford nabs honors as league's tops off bench, NBA