Celtics' Payton Pritchard named NBA's Sixth Man of the Year

Payton Pritchard transformed his basketball career by rising from the bench to become a cornerstone of the Boston Celtics' success. Named after Hall of Fame legend John Havlicek, he earned Sixth Man of the Year honors with 82 first-place votes over two winning seasons, averaging just over 28 minutes per game and scoring 14.3 points on a 40.7% shooting streak. Despite not matching the scoring prowess of his peers like Pistons' Malik Beasley (second place) or Cavaliers' Ty Jerome (third), Pritchard's reliability made an indelible mark, cementing his legacy as Boston's most dependable bench player.