Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro has been named the 2021-22 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year for his contributions in a reserve role, the NBA announced today. This is the first Sixth Man honor for Herro, who becomes the first player to win the annual award with the Heat.
Herro received 488 total points (96 first-place votes) from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love finished in second place with 214 points (three first-place votes). Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson finished in third place with 128 points (one first-place vote).
Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. To be eligible for the Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award, a player had to have come off the bench in more games than he started.
In his third NBA season, Herro averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 32.6 minutes in 66 games (10 starts). His scoring average of 20.8 points as a reserve was the highest in the NBA. He became the fifth player to average at least 20.0 points off the bench (minimum 50 games as a reserve) since starts began being tracked in the 1970-71 season, joining Thurl Bailey (1987-88), Eddie Johnson (1988-89), Ricky Pierce (1989-90, 1990-91) and Lou Williams (2017-18, 2018-19).
Herro’s eight 30-point games off the bench were tied for the third most since the 1970-71 season and his 20 25-point games were tied for the fourth most. He ranked 20th in the NBA in free throw percentage (86.8), 21st in points per game, 26th in three-point field goal percentage (39.9) and 32nd in three-pointers made (175).
Setting a single-season franchise record with 1,162 points off the bench, Herro helped the Heat finish with a 53-29 record and earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the 2022 NBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel. Miami is currently facing the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, with Game 2 to be played on Wednesday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
Herro, 22, the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has averaged 16.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 175 games over three seasons with the Heat. In the 2019-20 season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and set a Miami single-game playoff rookie scoring record with 37 points against the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Herro will be presented with a special edition 75th Anniversary commemorative trophy today in celebration of the honor, gifted in addition to the Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award trophy, which he will receive later. The commemorative trophy, composed of a solid crystal basketball, features the NBA 75 logo 3D laser etched and suspended within its center.
| VOTING RESULTS: 2021-22 KIA NBA SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD | |||||||||
| Player (Team) | 1st Place Votes (5 Points) | 2nd Place Votes (3 Points) | 3rd Place Votes (1 Point) | Total Points | |||||
| Tyler Herro (Miami) | 96 | 2 | 2 | 488 | |||||
| Kevin Love (Cleveland) | 3 | 58 | 25 | 214 | |||||
| Cam Johnson (Phoenix) | 1 | 27 | 42 | 128 | |||||
| Jordan Clarkson (Utah) | 0 | 7 | 6 | 27 | |||||
| Luke Kennard (LA Clippers) | 0 | 2 | 6 | 12 | |||||
| Bogdan Bogdanović (Atlanta) | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | |||||
| Kelly Oubre Jr. (Charlotte) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | |||||
| De’Anthony Melton (Memphis) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||||
| Montrezl Harrell (Charlotte) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |||||
| Immanuel Quickley (New York) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Brandon Clarke (Memphis) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Tyus Jones (Memphis) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Maxi Kleber (Dallas) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Below is the list of winners of the Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.
| KIA NBA SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS | ||||
| 1982-83 – Bobby Jones, Philadelphia1983-84 – Kevin McHale, Boston1984-85 – Kevin McHale, Boston1985-86 – Bill Walton, Boston1986-87 – Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee1987-88 – Roy Tarpley, Dallas1988-89 – Eddie Johnson, Phoenix1989-90 – Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee1990-91 – Detlef Schrempf, Indiana1991-92 – Detlef Schrempf, Indiana1992-93 – Clifford Robinson, Portland1993-94 – Dell Curry, Charlotte1994-95 – Anthony Mason, New York1995-96 – Toni Kukoc, Chicago | 1996-97 – John Starks, New York1997-98 – Danny Manning, Phoenix1998-99 – Darrell Armstrong, Orlando1999-00 – Rodney Rogers, Phoenix2000-01 – Aaron McKie, Philadelphia2001-02 – Corliss Williamson, Detroit2002-03 – Bobby Jackson, Sacramento2003-04 – Antawn Jamison, Dallas2004-05 – Ben Gordon, Chicago2005-06 – Mike Miller, Memphis2006-07 – Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix2007-08 – Manu Ginóbili, San Antonio2008-09 – Jason Terry, Dallas2009-10 – Jamal Crawford, Atlanta | 2010-11 – Lamar Odom, L.A. Lakers2011-12 – James Harden, Oklahoma City2012-13 – J.R. Smith, New York2013-14 – Jamal Crawford, LA Clippers 2014-15 – Lou Williams, Toronto 2015-16 – Jamal Crawford, LA Clippers2016-17 – Eric Gordon, Houston2017-18 – Lou Williams, LA Clippers2018-19 – Lou Williams, LA Clippers 2019-20 – Montrezl Harrell, LA Clippers2020-21 – Jordan Clarkson, Utah2021-22 – Tyler Herro, Miami |
