One of the keys to any championship run is bench strength. In the NBA, a team without
a deep bench is going to find it difficult to locate wins on a consistent basis. When
there’s a run of injuries through a lineup, or if it’s simply a case of the starting five
enduring an off night, others must be able to step up and fill that void, or the game is
lost.
During the unique 2020-21 NBA campaign, with its compacted regular season and
because of it, frequent loss of player personnel due to injury and COVID-19 protocols,
depth is proving to be more vital than ever.
That’s made the race for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award even more significant
than in other seasons. There are always a number of contenders for this honor, and you
can even put some money down at NBA betting sites on who the winner might be.
Let’s take a look at this year’s top sixth man contenders.
Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz
Contribution to success is a major deciding factor when looking at a sixth man
contender. That being the case, it’s difficult to look past Jazz shooting guard Jordan
Clarkson as being the one to beat in this season’s race.
He’s averaging a career-high 17.4 points per game off the bench for the Jazz, top seed
in the Western Conference and owners of the best overall record in the NBA. That’s
second-best in per-game scoring on the Utah roster.
A seven-season NBA veteran, Clarkson is also shooting 92 percent from the free throw
line and pulling down four rebounds per game, both career highs.
“If we’re winning games and we’re doing that, I’ll be rewarded for that,” Clarkson told USA Today Sports. “I feel like this is that time and that moment where I’ve impacted the game.”
Being able to step up when necessary is another trait of an elite sixth man and recently,
Clarkson is displaying that level of savvy. With starting shooting guard Donovan Mitchell
idled by an ankle injury, Clarkson stepped into the starting lineup and scored 27 and 22
points in respective games against the reigning NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Clarkson credits former teammates like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James for helping him
learn the game and further craft his skills as a player.
“If the Sixth Man of the Year award comes and I don’t get it, I don’t need the validation
because my teammates, coaching staff and a lot of my peers gave me that,” Clarkson
said.
“They’re telling me, ‘I respect what you do’ and all of that. So, I know that goes a long
way as well. But it’s definitely something I want to get accomplished one of these years.
Hopefully it’s this year.”
Joe Ingles, Utah Jazz
It could be that Clarkson’s toughest competitor for the sixth man of the year often sits
right next to win on the Jazz bench. Utah forward Joe Ingles is the most accurate 3-
point shooter on a Jazz team that loves launching threes. He’s shooting 48 percent from
long range this season.
Ingles has always talked a good game. He owns a reputation around the league that
rates him among the NBA’s most prolific trash talkers.
“He’ll come up to you at the free throw line and say, ‘I’m about to tip-dunk this,’”
De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings told the Deseret News. “It’s just little things and
sometimes it’s funny, for sure.”
Ingles admits that his mouth often gets the rest of his body more into the game.
“I never go into a game thinking of talking to anyone,” Ingles said. “I obviously get in
probably more conversations with people than anyone else on our team. But yeah,
obviously it lights something up in me that makes the game fun.”
This season, the Australian is also playing a good game. Ingles is averaging 12.3 points
per game, sixth on the Utah club. He’s also dishing out 4.4 assists per game.
Montrezl Harrell, Los Angeles Lakers
It’s unusual not to see a member of the Los Angeles Clippers among the sixth man
contenders. Clippers players have won the award the past three seasons. Lou Williams
won back-to-back in 2017-18 and 2018-19, while Harrell won it last season prior to
crossing over to the Lakers as a free agent.
Harrell is fourth on the Lakers in scoring (13.9 points per game) and fourth in
rebounding (6.6), all while playing about four minutes a night less than he did last
season for the Clippers.
Clearly, Harrell is bitter with the Clippers for letting him go.
“Honestly, I feel that if you spend your career in any place long enough, you’re gonna
want to continue to stay,” Harrell told Sports Illustrated. “As far as if they wanted me
back, it just doesn’t seem that way, does it?”
“This is the team that wanted me. I’m really honored and blessed to be here.”
