NBA hands down the vote 
The league has officially confirmed another individual honour. Keldon Johnson has taken the 2025-2026 Sixth Man of the Year award. That is now official. The ballot was dominated by the numbers. The San Antonio wing finished with 404 points. He also picked up 63 first-place votes.
The gap to the rest was clear-cut. Jaime Jaquez Jr. finished on 331 points, including 34 first-place votes. Tim Hardaway Jr. ended the race with 45 points. The Texas winner replaces Payton Pritchard in the league’s record books.
Numbers backed by a tactical shift
The winner’s stat line made the case. He was available all season. He played all 82 games in the regular season. He averaged 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists. He shot 52 per cent from the field and 36 per cent from three.
The totals tell their own story: 1081 points scored and 440 rebounds. That is the second-highest figure in the league among non-starters. It underlines the tactical switch San Antonio made. Johnson moved from a starting role, where he averaged 22 points in the 2023 season, to a full-time spot in the second unit.
A long-standing part of the furniture
Johnson’s contract history shows just how long he has been in the organisation. Seven straight years. The longest-serving player on the current roster. Trade talks were quietly shut down by the front office. His roots in the local area, helped by his ownership and use of private agricultural land nearby, only reinforce that sense of stability.
The award for Johnson comes on top of the recognition given to his teammate Victor Wembanyama, who was named Defensive Player of the Year 48 hours earlier. San Antonio had not had a winner in the Sixth Man category since Manu Ginobili picked it up back in 2008.
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