Keldon Johnson named 2025-26 NBA Sixth Man of the Year

Keldon Johnson embodies what it means to embrace your role — and now he’s being rewarded for it.

On Wednesday night, Johnson was named the 2025-26 NBA Sixth Man of the Year. The former Kentucky Wildcat came off the bench in all 82 games for the San Antonio Spurs this season, averaging 13.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per outing. He shot 51.9 percent from the field (his best number since his rookie season in 2019-20), 36.3 percent from deep, and 79.4 percent from the line while helping the Spurs finish second in the Western Conference standings.

Johnson beat out Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. for the award, earning 404 total points compared to 331 for Jaquez. Another former ‘Cat, Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard, picked up 28 points to finish in sixth place. Johnson becomes the second Kentucky alum to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year, joining Tyler Herro, who did the same for the Heat in 2021-22.

San Antonio Spurs' Keldon Johnson has won the 2025-26 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 22, 2026

Johnson’s career arc since joining the NBA after his one-and-done season at Kentucky has been a rollercoaster. Now 26 years old, he was the 29th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but did not see much action in his rookie season. That quickly changed, though. He boosted his per-game scoring averages to 12.8 points in 2020-21, then to 17 points in 2021-22, and then to a career-high 22 points in 2022-23. Johnson was a reliable starter for San Antonio, but team success did not come with it.

Then the Spurs drafted Victor Wembanyama, and Johnson’s role flipped. His numbers began to slip, but his impact on both ends of the floor was still felt. Wins began to follow, too. Johnson mostly came off the bench in 2023-24, averaging 15.7 points per game. He then became a full-time bench player in 2024-25, again seeing his scoring dip down, this time to 12.7 points per game. But Johnson hit his groove this season as a key piece for one of the best teams in the entire league. He became the perfect complementary player for a franchise looking to compete for a championship.

Johnson even set a Spurs record this season. His 1,081 points off the bench now rank as the most in team history for one season, surpassing Manu Ginóbili, who scored 927 points during his Sixth Man of the Year campaign in 2007-08.

This was a well-deserved award for the Virginia native. Now let’s see if he can help bring San Antonio another title.

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