Sixth Man: Keldon Johnson

Keldon Johnson won the 2025-26 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year award after spending the entire regular season as San Antonio’s top reserve. (nba.com) The National Basketball Association announced the award on April 22, 2026. Johnson played all 82 games, made zero starts, and became only the second Spurs player to win Sixth Man after Manu Ginobili in 2008. (nba.com) Johnson scored 1,081 points off the bench, a Spurs franchise record, and averaged 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 51.9% from the field. ESPN reported that total ranked second in the NBA among reserves. (nba.com) (basketball-reference.com) (espn.com) The award goes to the league’s best non-starter, and Johnson’s case was built on durability and steady scoring in a Spurs season that also produced Defensive Player of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama. San Antonio now has two major individual award winners in the same postseason. (nba.com) (espn.com) Johnson’s role change started two seasons ago, after he had spent much of his career as a starter and averaged a career-high 22.0 points in 2022-23. Former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich told him before a team meeting in Dallas that the club wanted him to anchor the second unit. (espn.com) In the voting, Johnson received 63 first-place votes. Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. got 34 first-place votes, and Denver Nuggets guard Tim Hardaway Jr. was the other finalist. (espn.com) (nba.com) Wembanyama said last month that Johnson “has sacrificed more than anybody on this team” and called him deserving of the award. Johnson said the move to the bench was “tough” at first because he had to “put the team first.” (espn.com) (nba.com) The result locks in Johnson’s place as the Spurs’ change-of-pace scorer, the same job Ginobili once turned into an award. This time, San Antonio’s version came with 82 games, 1,081 bench points, and a trophy announced in the middle of a playoff run. (nba.com) (usatoday.com)