MIAMI Heat guard Tyler Herro won the 2022 National Basketball Association (NBA) Sixth Man of the Year Award, the league announced on Tuesday.
Herro won 96 of the 100 available first-place votes for 488 total points from a voting panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love (three first-place votes, 214 points) finished second in voting and Phoenix Suns forward Cam Johnson (one first-place vote, 128 points) was third.
In his third NBA season, Herro averaged 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game with 39.9% shooting from 3-point range for Miami, which earned the No. 1 playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
Herro comes off the bench but plays starters’ minutes. He averaged 32.6 minutes per game in 66 appearances but started just 10 games.
Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, who won the award in 2021, finished fourth in voting.
Herro credited Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford, two three-time winners of the award, as inspirations.
“I feel like when I think of the Sixth Man award, it’s Lou Will or Jamal Crawford. Growing up, those are two guys that I grew up watching as a sixth man,” Herro said on TNT. “They paved the way for all of us. I just continue to keep it going and there will still be someone after me to win this award next year.” — Reuters