There was thought to be a close race for this season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year award between the Boston Celtics‘ Malcolm Brogdon and New York Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley.
On Thursday, Brogdon was announced as the winner, and the close race that was expected never materialized, as he won a majority of the first-place votes for the award.
Malcolm Brogdon was the clear favorite for Sixth Man of the Year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0R2fP8OU6E
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 20, 2023
Brogdon earned the Sixth Man of the Year award by averaging 14.9 points a game on 48.4 percent overall shooting and 44.4 percent from 3-point range and helping the Celtics to a 57-25 record, the second-best in the league.
But many fans on Twitter felt he didn’t deserve it.
Tbh Brogdon did not deserve it 😂
— Cody Carwardine (@CodyCarwardine) April 21, 2023
This fan feels Quickley should’ve won the award.
IQ robbed again
— ThisIsMyIsUs3rnam3 (@ThisIsMyIsUser1) April 20, 2023
The New York reserve averaged 14.9 points a game in the regular season, but his shooting accuracy (44.8 percent overall and 37.0 percent from downtown) wasn’t quite at the level of Brogdon’s efficiency.
These two fans had someone else in mind: Bobby Portis of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Garbage Bobby was robbed!
— TheRealTruth72 (@Truth72Real) April 20, 2023
@BPortistime robbed big time man
— Parker Vrana (@Parker_Vrana) April 20, 2023
Portis had a nice season himself, putting up 14.1 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while hitting 49.6 percent of his shots and shooting 37.0 percent from beyond the arc.
He has been a key reserve for the Bucks over the last three seasons, and he helped them win the NBA championship in 2021.
But Brogdon made a significant impact on a Boston team that had a very weak bench last season when they lost the world title to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
The Celtics still ranked just 20th in bench scoring during the regular season, but now they aren’t at a major disadvantage anymore when they go to their second unit or when Jayson Tatum is resting.
