Keldon Johnson did not move from the bench all season. On Friday night, he could not stop the tears.
The San Antonio Spurs swingman was named the 2025-26 NBA Sixth Man of the Year on TNT's Inside The NBA pregame show, edging out Miami's Hamidou Diallo and Denver's Tim Hardaway Jr. to claim the John Havlicek Trophy. Johnson became the second Spurs player to win the award, joining the late Manu Ginobili — a name he openly studied while remaking his game off the bench.
"It's a little emotional," Johnson said as he accepted the trophy on a video link from his Texas home, surrounded by family. "It's a big accomplishment. It's a lot of hard work that goes into an award like this. And especially through everything I've been through."
Johnson came off the bench in all 82 regular-season games for San Antonio for a second consecutive year — a deliberate sacrifice in a career that began in the starting lineup. He explained the trade-off with the kind of bluntness that has become his trademark since arriving from Kentucky in the 2019 draft.
"Honestly, it just came down to wanting to be a part of something special here in San Antonio," Johnson said. "I knew that in order for me to really be the best for the team, that coming off the bench was probably my best possibility. At first it was tough. I had to really remove my ego and put the team first. After that, the sky was the limit."
The award announcement was made by three-time Sixth Man winner Jamal Crawford, who was added to the broadcast for the moment after the Inside crew teased him about his trophy collection. Crawford lingered on the mentality required to embrace the role — and what made Johnson worthy.
"It's something that's special," Crawford said. "I was actually starting before I started coming off the bench. And that's who I watched when I made that transition — Manu. Kell brought that all season long. Happy that they get to celebrate that in San Antonio."
Charles Barkley, who relentlessly campaigned for Manu Ginobili to be recognised as one of the great sixth men of his era, asked Johnson how he handled the initial demotion. The answer came quickly.
"I was tired," Johnson said. "You could be a good player on bad teams and I was tired of being looked at like that. So I said, I'll do whatever it takes." Johnson revealed he prepared for the role in offseason pickup games in Seattle, deliberately holding himself out of the opening minutes to recreate the rhythm. "I'd make sure I didn't start until the second or third game so I can get used to coming off the bench and seeing what the game flow looked like."
When asked whether he had ever pushed back against coaches who tried to move him into the starting lineup, Johnson recalled an exchange in Los Angeles during a stint with Doc Rivers' staff that turned a circumstantial role into an identity.
"Doc said, hey, you should start now," Johnson said. "I'm like, no, no, no. I'm comfortable in my role. Just play me starter minutes. I was able to still have an impact." That conversation, he added, "went from something that I chose to do to something that outlived me. Going in gyms, coaching kids now, and seeing all the kids like, I want to be a sixth man, watching you and Manu and Jason Terry and those guys. So that's I take great pride in that."
The award lands as the Spurs sit tied 1-1 with Portland in their first-round series and waiting on Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama, who travelled to Game 3 in concussion protocol but is not yet cleared to play. Johnson spoke about adjusting his role on the fly with or without his All-NBA centre.
"My thought process stays the same," Johnson said. "Whatever my team needs me to do, I'll come in there and do that. If I need to pick up on the scoring, we'll do that. Vic is a big part of what we have here at San Antonio. He's our guy offensively and defensively. So if he's not with us, we will make the appropriate adjustments."
Inside The NBA host Ernie Johnson asked who was with him for the moment Crawford read his name. Johnson reeled them off — mom, dad, best friends, little sister — before catching himself again. "It's a little emotional," he repeated, voice softer.
The full vote tally placed Johnson first, with Diallo second, Hardaway Jr. third, Naz Reed fourth, and AJ Mitchell fifth. Johnson is the first Spurs sixth man winner since Ginobili in 2007-08 — and like the Argentine, he did it from the bench, by choice.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/keldon-johnson-sixth-man-of-the-year-spurs-2026-manu-ginobili). Visit for full coverage.*
