ATLANTA — Accepting a backup role
for the first time in his career, Atlanta Hawks guard Jamal Crawford was
rewarded for his unselfishness Tuesday by being named the NBA Sixth Man
of the Year.
Crawford won the award going away with
580 of a possible 610 points, including 110 out of 122 first-place
votes. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks finished second with 220
points and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers (126 points)
finished third.
Crawford averaged 18 points a game in
31.1 minutes off the bench in his first season with Atlanta. He shot
44.9 percent from the field to help the Hawks win 53 games and earn the
third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The Hawks are the fourth NBA team for
Crawford, who finally made the playoffs for the first time in his 10th
season.
"You have to check your ego at the
door," the 30-year-old said. "It's all about winning. You do what you've
got to do."
The Hawks already had a solid starting
five in place last summer when they traded two little-used players,
Acie Law and Speedy Claxton, to Golden State for Crawford. Even though
he'd started at all levels of his playing career, Crawford embraced the
chance to play for a winner.
"There was an opportunity here to have
tremendous notoriety coming off the bench," general manager Rick Sund
said. "I told him if we were going to take this to the next level, be a
championship-caliber team, we needed someone to really make an impact
off the bench."
Crawford got off to a slow start — "I
didn't want to step on anyone's toes," he said — but he wound up ranking
second on the team in scoring even though he never started a game.
He was usually on the court at the end
of the game.
"I told Jamal that everyone can't
start on this team," coach Mike Woodson said. "But it doesn't matter who
starts — it's who finishes."