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The NBA Sixth Man of the Year award recognizes the importance of a key player who contributes like a starter despite coming off the bench. Over the last decade, with only one exception (Lou Williams in 2018), nine of the 10 award-winners were a part of a playoff team.
It's fair to say that the Sixth Man of the Year must contribute to a high level of winning.
There is another commonality between the winners of the award over the last 10 seasons: All but one of them have been high-volume guards &mdash; Tyler Herro, Jordan Clarkson, Williams (3x), Jamal Crawford (2x), Eric Gordon and JR Smith (with the one anamoly being Montrezl Harrell.)
Zooming out more, over the last 20 seasons, 17 of the winners were listed as a "shooting guard." Harrell, Lamar Odom and Antawn Jamison were the other three award-winners in that span.
Each of these guards had one job when they came into the game: Get buckets. Every award-winner averaged at least 14 points per game on 40% from the field or better, and 70% of the winners scored more than 18 points per contest. This is often good enough for a top-three scoring season on an individual's team, thus highlighting the important impact they have off the bench.&nbsp;
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But what is the Sixth Man of the Year award really&nbsp;about? Is it about a player's total impact off the bench? Is it the contribution to winning? Or is it merely the ability to score a lot of points while not being in the starting lineup?
The only legitimate qualification for the award is playing with the second unit more than being in the actual starting five. In 2016-17, while Gordon only started 15 games, he was third on the team in minutes played. Herro was also third in minutes for the Miami Heat this past season.&nbsp;
Volume. Volume. Volume.
However, the Sixth Man of the Year award should look beyond the volume scorers by default and focus on those bench players who have a high-level impact on winning teams.
Take, for instance, Tyus Jones. The Memphis Grizzlies finished with the second-best record in the NBA last season (56-26). Yes, Memphis has a budding superstar in Ja Morant, but the Grizzlies are not where they are today without Jones.
Jones led the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (7.04) by almost 2 assists over the next closest player &mdash; his brother, San Antonio Spurs guard Tre Jones (5.07). Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins has been able to entrust his offense to Tyus with the second unit to the point where Memphis finished with the second-highest scoring average in the NBA last season at 115.6 points per game.&nbsp;
Last season's Sixth Man award-winner was Herro, who had a net rating of plus-5.3. While net rating is more of a team stat, it does indicate that his team was better by more than 5 points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor. In comparison, the Grizzlies were 7.6 points per 100 possessions better than their opponent when Jones was on the floor.&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Taylor Jenkins on how Tyus Jones&rsquo; aggression and confidence scoring the ball enhances the team&rsquo;s offense &mdash; his playmaking, his teammates, productivity <a href="https://t.co/CdGw6gXWRe">pic.twitter.com/CdGw6gXWRe</a>
&mdash; Grizzly Bear Blues (@sbnGrizzlies) <a href="https://twitter.com/sbnGrizzlies/status/1456033306257002504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2021</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;He&rsquo;s just a great connector out there. I love the spirit [and] leadership he plays with, the way he moves the ball,&rdquo; Jenkins said after the playoff-opening loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. &ldquo;Obviously when he&rsquo;s played a bigger role, he&rsquo;s filled those shoes brilliantly. He plays so well, plays great team basketball.&rdquo;
The Grizzlies were also 17-6 in the games in which Jones had to step in, replacing an All-NBA player in Morant due to injury. Herro only started 10 games in Miami last season, and the Heat were 5-5 in those contests. Further, Herro was playing a less crucial position than Jones and replacing a less depended-upon player.
In those 23 contests in which Jones started, he averaged 12.7 points and 6.6 assists per game. Memphis had an improved Offensive Rating and Defensive Rating compared to his time off the bench, good for plus-14.1 per 100 possessions with Tyus starting. In Herro's 10 starts, his scoring average decreased slightly. (His assists did bump to 4.4 helpers a night, though.)
However, in essence, when Jones was called upon to start, he elevated his play with his increased minutes. Herro's starts were essentially on par with his production off the bench, and Miami saw a significant decrease in both ORTG and DRTG with him as a starter; now, this is partly due to who may have been absent from the lineup. Nonetheless, Herro's impact fell well short of Jones when you look beyond pure scoring.&nbsp;
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A prime example of the "impact winning" argument comes from the Utah Jazz in 2020-21, in which both Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles were up for Sixth Man of the Year. (One of them clearly had to be the seventh man, right?)
Clarkson was top-three in just two categories for the Jazz, points per game and steals per game; meanwhile, Ingles was top-three in assists, Offensive Rating, three-point percentage, Offensive Plus-Minus and Win Shares. So while Clarkson outscored Ingles by an average of 6 points per game, it certainly seems that Ingles had a bigger impact on winning each game.&nbsp;
The NBA is full of nuance. The MVP has always been a nuanced conversation, where statistics and impact beyond basic scoring are weighed and valued. The MVP off the bench should also be deeper than just being a "bucket-getter."
Guys like Joe Ingles in 2020 and Tyus Jones over the last couple of years are an example of some of the most important players off the bench in the entire Association, and it could lead the latter to some golden hardware this season.

Justin Lewis analyzes how Tyus Jones' importance to the Grizzlies' success could lead to him winning the Sixth Man award.

Why Tyus Jones has a case for 2022-23 NBA Sixth Man award with Grizzlies

Duke&rsquo;s Mike Krzyzewski has spent more than four decades preparing seniors for managing the emotions that come with taking the court a final time at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This week, the retiring Hall of Famer must do that for someone new: himself.
&ldquo;Little bit of thinking yesterday: &lsquo;This is your last game at Cameron,&rsquo; Krzyzewski said Thursday, two days before his fourth-ranked Blue Devils host North Carolina to close the regular season. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s crazy, how did that happen? How is it here? &hellip; I&rsquo;ll have to spend some time, have a meeting with me.
&ldquo;Maybe a few tough talks about keeping my eyes on the road, so to speak.&rdquo;
The 75-year-old known to many as &ldquo;Coach K&rdquo; has spent the better part of a year deflecting questions about his looming retirement and trying to avoid being a distraction or creating additional pressure on his fourth-ranked Blue Devils. The approach has worked, with a roster led by players with NBA futures securing the program&rsquo;s outright first Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title since 2006.
Now there are no more deflections, no more chances to push questions into the distance. The moment is here, with Krzyzewski down to one home game &ndash; fittingly against the rival Tar Heels &mdash; and no more than 10 games left in an impressive career.
As Krzyzewski said he told his staff Thursday morning: &ldquo;Who would&rsquo;ve ever thought? It&rsquo;s my Senior Day.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I think I&rsquo;m just going to overall &ndash; I&rsquo;m talking to myself right now &ndash; just let it happen,&rdquo; Krzyzewski said. &ldquo;And see what the hell happens. But try not to let it negatively influence anything for my players, because look, for them, it&rsquo;s their game. &hellip; And I&rsquo;m responsible for making sure that they have the best chance to win that game.&rdquo;
Krzyzewski&rsquo;s resume includes a college-coaching record 1,196 victories to go with five NCAA championships. So much of that success originated in the 82-year-old campus arena, with its cramped confines (9,314 capacity) and rowdy students packed into bleachers practically on top of the court along the length of the sideline to create an intimidating and ear-ringing homecourt advantage.
In all, Krzyzewski has a 572-75 record (.884) in 42 seasons of home games.
His Cameron farewell will be an emotional spectacle, adding another layer to a rivalry that annually commands the spotlight and features neighboring teams with a combined 11 NCAA championships.
The cheapest ticket on StubHub as of Thursday afternoon was $3,250, with seats climbing north of $10,000 &mdash; including some with asking prices of $50,000 and, improbably, $99,988 each. The school expects around 80 of Krzyzewski&rsquo;s former Duke players to attend, just one example of how his influence on the sport will continue long past his retirement.
Steve Wojciechowski will be among that group.
The former Blue Devils defensive-minded point guard best known as &ldquo;Wojo&rdquo; became an assistant on Krzyzewski&rsquo;s staff before spending seven seasons as Marquette&rsquo;s head coach until last year. His enduring Cameron moment came on his Senior Day in 1998, when Duke rallied to beat a North Carolina team featuring future NBA players Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter.
At the horn, Wojciechowski turned and ran straight to Krzyzewski for a firm and lasting hug amid the rare sight of &ldquo;Cameron Crazies&rdquo; storming the court to celebrate.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s surreal,&rdquo; Wojciechowski said. &ldquo;How many things in your life have been consistent over a 40-year period, where you know you go somewhere and turn on the TV, there&rsquo;s a constant there that you can depend on? In all of our lives? Very few. Duke, and Coach K being there, is one of them.&rdquo;
Not every memory is quite as sweet, though.
Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley, the point guard on Krzyzewski&rsquo;s first two NCAA title teams, still remembers Krzyzewski working out the team after a long bus ride home following a January 1991 loss at Virginia.
&ldquo;Coach said to go get taped and we were going to practice,&rdquo; Hurley said. &ldquo;And we practiced like another two hours, so that was probably a not-so-good behind-the-scenes memory at Cameron Indoor.&rdquo;
Current player Wendell Moore Jr., has heard stories like that from former players that came before him, laughing that Krzyzewski has &ldquo;definitely chilled out with us a little bit, I&rsquo;ve heard.&rdquo;
Moore said Krzyzewski was &ldquo;a little sentimental&rdquo; with the team this week.
&ldquo;He&rsquo;s known it&rsquo;s coming to an end,&rdquo; Moore said. &ldquo;So for him, he wants to cherish every last moment of it. ... I mean, we know where he&rsquo;s coming from. A guy like him, he never thinks it&rsquo;s going to end for him. But he knows his time is coming, so we&rsquo;re doing everything we can just to stay in the moment with him.&rdquo;

The moment is here, with Mike Krzyzewski down to one home game – fittingly against the rival Tar Heels.

After year of deflection, Coach K’s Cameron farewell is here

Evan Fournier made his Boston Celtics debut during Monday's matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans, after being traded from the Orlando Magic prior to the deadline. Fournier's debut was eye-opening for all the wrong reasons, as the 6-foot-7 shooting guard out of France put up zero points while shooting 0-10 from the field and 0-5 from behind the arc. 
<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1376718943310684160" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to StatMuse</a>, that&rsquo;s the most scoreless minutes by a Celtic with 10+ attempts since the start of the three-point era (1980). There was no shortage of playing time for Fournier, as he logged 33 minutes, but the nine-year veteran just couldn't buy a basket in his new threads.
Per Elias Sports Bureau, Fournier is the fourth player in the shot clock era to go 0-10 or worse in their debut with a new team. The others: Antawn Jamison (who went 0-12 with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010), Corey Blount (who went 0-10 with the Golden State Warriors in 2001) and Kevin McKenna (who went 0-10 with the Indiana Pacers in 1983).&nbsp;
The last time Fournier was scoreless in a game in which he wasn't ejected or injured was an 0-6 shooting performance in a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 4, 2016. He also had a 0-point game against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 10, 2019, but that's because he was ejected after just 14 minutes because he picked up two quick technical fouls. 
Tonight, Fournier's plus-minus was a -23 and his final stat line read: 0 points, 0 assists, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Boston ultimately fell to New Orleans, 115-109, and they are now below .500 with a 23-24 record.
Fournier will look to bounce back on Wednesday when the Celtics host Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Newly acquired Celtic Evan Fournier went scoreless in his debut with the team, shooting 0-10 from the field in 32 minutes.