NBA: Naz Reed Sixth Man of the Year – First Timberwolves to win award
Minnesota forward Naz Reed named sixth man of the year NBA for the 2023/24 season on Wednesday night, becoming the first Timberwolves player to win the award.
Reed, 24, averaged 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds and helped Minnesota finish with the second-best record in its history (56-26) and third place in the West.
He also became the third undrafted player to win the award, joining John Starks (1997) and Darrell Armstrong (1999) and one of six players to win the award before the age of 25.
In second place was Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk. Characteristic of the “battle” that took place for this particular award, Reed and Monk had the same number of votes for second place (39) and third place (10), with the difference of 10 points (352 to 342) resulting in Reed because of his 45 first-place votes, compared to Monk’s 43.
According to NBA Communications, the 10-point margin between Reed and Monk was the narrowest for the Sixth Player of the Year award under the current voting format, which began in the 2002-03 season.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis was a distant third with five first-place votes and 82 points overall.
