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At tonight’s NBA Awards on TNT, Clippers guard Lou Williams was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year.
It’s no surprise, as Lou was the Clippers’ best player for big stretches of the season and ended the year averaging 22.6 points, 5.3 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game in 32.8 minutes per night. Despite a career-high attempts from the field and three, Lou also bested his career efficiency averages, hitting 43.5% of his shots overall and shooting 35.9% from deep. Williams appeared in 79 of the Clippers’ 82 games, starting only 19. Lou was a fringe all-star candidate and, despite exceptional performances from other candidates Fred VanFleet and Eric Gordon, was the obvious choice to win the award.
It’s the second career Sixth Man of the Year award for Lou, who previously won in 2014-15. He was also the Western Conference Player of the Week twice this season.
Lou had a number of big games this season, carrying short-handed Clippers squads to big victories with 17 games of 30 or more points (12-5 record), including 4 games of 40 or more points (4-0 record) and an iconic 50-point performance in a road win against the Warriors at Oracle Arena.
The future of the Clippers’ guard rotation is in flux after the team drafted two guards in the lottery of last week’s NBA Draft, but Lou Williams played his way into the team’s future plans, earning a 3-year extension in February. Let’s enjoy this award as a testament to his amazing season, and take in the highlights of his signature 50-point game against Golden State.