{"id":601424,"date":"2026-04-23T10:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/601424\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T10:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T10:51:14","slug":"spurs-keldon-johnson-wins-sixth-man-of-the-year-put-the-team-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/601424\/","title":{"rendered":"Spurs\u2019 Keldon Johnson wins Sixth Man of the Year: &#8216;Put the team first&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sign up for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/support.tpr.org\/a\/tpr-newsletter-signup?_gl=1*1qdmxfl*_ga*MjI5ODI0MTQ5LjE2NDUxMjA0MTM.*_ga_0B2CYK6231*czE3NjI1NTQ2ODUkbzM0NDMkZzEkdDE3NjI1NTQ2OTIkajUzJGwwJGgw\" class=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio&#8217;s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson has been named the NBA\u2019s Sixth Man of the Year, a recognition of both his production and his willingness to embrace a new role.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson is the first Spur to win the award since Manu Gin\u00f3bili, long considered one of the greatest sixth men in league history. <\/p>\n<p>The honor places Johnson in rare company for a franchise that has long valued depth and unselfish play.<\/p>\n<p>Two seasons ago, Johnson was moved from the starting lineup to the bench, a shift that required an adjustment for a player who had spent much of his career as a starter. <\/p>\n<p>Instead of resisting the change, he leaned into it, becoming one of the league\u2019s most productive reserves.<\/p>\n<p>He scored more than 1,000 points off the bench this season, providing a consistent offensive spark for San Antonio\u2019s second unit. <\/p>\n<p>His ability to attack the basket, draw fouls, and bring energy has made him a key part of the Spurs\u2019 rotation.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said the transition wasn\u2019t easy at first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had to control my ego and put the team first,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter that, the sky was the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"Image\" alt=\"Mar 28, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) dunks during the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.\"  width=\"880\" height=\"1320\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776941474_838_.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Jeff Hanisch\/IMAGN IMAGES<\/p>\n<p>\/<\/p>\n<p>Reuters<\/p>\n<p>Mar 28, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA;  San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) dunks during the second quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum.<\/p>\n<p>His impact goes beyond scoring. <\/p>\n<p>Coaches and teammates have pointed to his leadership and effort as central to the team\u2019s identity, especially as the Spurs continue to develop a young roster.<\/p>\n<p>That role could become even more important in the days ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Victor Wembanyama, who was recently named the NBA\u2019s Defensive Player of the Year, is uncertain after suffering a concussion. <\/p>\n<p>His absence would leave a significant gap on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n<p>If Wembanyama is limited or unavailable, the Spurs will likely look to Johnson to help carry a larger share of the scoring load while maintaining the energy that has defined his season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for\u00a0TPR Today, Texas Public Radio&#8217;s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-601424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}