Manu Ginobli Wins Kia’s NBA Sixth Man Award

Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs is the winner of the NBA Sixth Man Award given by Kia Motors. In order to be eligible for this award, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Although Ginobili has started a number of games for the Spurs this season, he was eligible for the award because he came off of the bench far more frequently. He was moved earlier in the season from a starting role to a back-up role to give the Spurs’ reserves some extra offensive firepower.

Spurs officials say Ginobili received 615 out of a possible 620 points, including 123 of a possible 124 first-place votes, from a panel of 124 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns finished second with 283 points and Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks finished third with 44 points. Ginobili was the only player in the NBA to average at least 17 points in less than 32 minutes of playing time per game.