Tyler Herro's best sustained play has come off the bench, but his best moment might have come in the NBA playoffs. The NBA named him the NBA Sixth Man of the Year for the 2021-22 season for his reserve role.
I accepted the role of starting or coming off the bench because we are trying to win a championship here. Herro said last month that he was happy to accept his role on the team and that he was a finalist for the award.
Herro received 96 out of a possible 100 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, accumulating 488 total points.
| Player, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T. Herro, Miami | 96 | 2 | 2 | 488 |
| K. Love, Cle. | 3 | 58 | 25 | 214 |
| C. Johnson, Pho. | 1 | 27 | 42 | 128 |
| J. Clarkson, Utah | 0 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| L. Kannard, LAC | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 |
| B. Bogdanovic, Atl. | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| K. Oubre Jr., Cha. | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 |
| D. Melton, Mem. | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| M. Harrell, Cha. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| I. Quickley, NYK | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| B. Clarke, Mem. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| T. Jones, Mem. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| M. Kleber, Dal. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Love and Johnson both finished in third place with 128 points, Love with three first-place votes and Johnson with one first-place vote.
Kelly Oubre Jr. of the Atlanta Hawks scored 10 points, while Jordan Clarkson of the Utah Jazz scored 27 points. Two years ago, the Clippers' Montreuil won the award, and last season the Jazz's Clarkson did the same.
A player had to come off the bench in more games than he started to be eligible for the award. Herro came off the bench in 56 of the 66 games he played, and averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebound and 4.0 assists. His scoring average was the highest for any reserve in the league when he was a substitute.
He is the first Heat player to win the award and just the fifth player to average at least 20 points off the bench since starts began being tracked in the 1970-71 season, joining Thurl Bailey, Eddie Johnson, Ricky Pierce.
Herro scored 30 or more eight times off the bench, tying for third most in a season by a reserve since 1970. In Game 4 of the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals in the Bubble, the former No. 13 pick out of the University of Kentucky scored 37 points to set a Miami record.
The No. 1 seed in the East was earned by him. The Philadelphia 76ers are in the East semifinals.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
