Jazz Guard Jordan Clarkson Named Sixth Man Of The Year
May 24, 2021, 5:49 PM | Updated: May 26, 2021, 8:28 pm
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has been named Kia Sixth Man of the Year by the NBA.
Clarkson led all bench scorers in the NBA averaging 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists for the Jazz, helping lead the team to the best record in the NBA for the first time in franchise history.
Last week, Clarkson was named a finalist along with teammate Joe Ingles and New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose. Ultimately Clarkson was 65 of the first-place votes, 26 of the second-place votes, and four third-place votes. Ingles won 34 first-place votes and 31 second-place votes.
Clarkson is in his second season with the Jazz after being acquired in December of 2019 in exchange for guard Dante Exum. The guard is the first Sixth Man of the Year award winner in Jazz history.
showing off the hardware in front of the home crowd 🖤 pic.twitter.com/rEciFAsWNL
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 27, 2021
In his seventh season out of Missouri, Clarkson has been one of the leauge’s premier scorers off the bench. Drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, Clarkson has made stops with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers before landing in Utah.
Clarkson appeared on Inside the NBA on TNT with Ingles as the two players discussed the Jazz’s accomplishments this season. The two were asked a series of trivia questions by the TNT crew regarding the Sixth Man of the Year Award, including the first-ever winner (Bobby Jones, 1983) and how many players have won the award three times (Jamal Crawford, Lou Williams).
Joe Ingles hands Jordan Clarkson the #KiaSixth Man of the Year trophy 🎶 pic.twitter.com/pamxUATDqb
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 24, 2021
Finally, the TNT crew asked the Jazz guards how many Jazz players had won the award, to which Clarkson answered zero, and Ingles answered one. When asked who won the award, Ingles grabbed the Sixth Man of the Year Award and handed it to Clarkson.
“Hey, I appreciate you throwing me that ball man,” Clarkson said to Ingles as the two players embraced each other.
TNT host Shaquille O’Neal asked Clarkson if it was difficult to sacrifice a starting spot on a different team to join the Jazz.
“It was tough, my first couple years because I started in LA during that time,” Clarkson said. but just coming into myself and trying to find the impact I can have in this game and what I could bring to it.”
✨ What we already knew, Six! ✨@jordanclarksons is officially the Sixth Man of the Year 🖤#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/Z2bSMX2s2v
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 24, 2021
A basketball historian, Clarkson has not been shy about the impact former Sixth Man Award winners have had on his career from Manu Ginobili to Lou Williams.
“Growing up watching Manu, he’s one guy that I really watched growing up and he really made this role, really cool to me,” Clarkson said.
“Lou was big on me in LA is slowing down in life and everything. Just giving me so much knowledge that I wasn’t able to accept when I was a young player in the NBA.”
Clarkson may not be the only Jazz player to earn an end-of-season award. Center Rudy Gobert is a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year Award, while Quin Snyder is nominated for Coach of the Year.
