While it isn’t completely official yet, all signs point to James Harden winning this season’s Sixth Man of the Year. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman writes that Oklahoma City has scheduled a news conference for this afternoon where it is expected they will announce Harden as the winner. The Beard dropped 16.8 points, along with 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists a night, and probably had this award locked up since February. He’s been too good for too long, and as he’s shown at times in the playoffs – most notably in Game 4 against Dallas – he has the potential to start and perhaps make some All-Star Teams down the road.
Harden is also now the first Sonic/Thunder player to ever win this award.
Despite logging just 31.4 minutes while playing with two of the biggest shot-eaters in the game in Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, Harden was often asked to create offense and finish for the team that had the best record in the West for most of the season. Also, his true shooting percentage (66 percent) was the fourth-best in the entire NBA.
Manu Ginobili has been considered the best bench player in the league for much of his career, and the Spurs and Thunder seem destined to meet in the conference finals. The Beard against Batman would be awesome.
Does anyone else deserve a vote?
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