If you had Payton Pritchard winning the 6 man of the year 2025 award on your preseason bingo card, you're either a time traveler or a massive Boston Celtics homer. Honestly, most people didn't see it coming. For years, this award felt like it was reserved for the high-volume "spark plug" guards who just hunted shots for twenty minutes a night. Think Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams vibes. But the 2024-25 season felt different, didn't it? The voters moved away from raw scoring and toward something more... well, impactful.
Pritchard wasn't just a bench player. He was a weapon.
He ended the season with 82 first-place votes, a massive landslide over the Pistons' Malik Beasley and the Cavaliers' Ty Jerome. It wasn't even particularly close in the end. While Beasley put up a couple more points per game, Pritchard was the engine of a Boston bench that essentially bullied other teams' starters.
The Stats Behind the 6 Man of the Year 2025 Win
Let's get into the nitty-gritty of why the voters went this way. Usually, people just look at the points. Pritchard had those—14.3 per game—but it was the efficiency that made everyone stop and stare. We’re talking about a guy who shot 47.2% from the floor and a blistering 40.7% from three.
He didn't just take threes; he broke records with them.
Pritchard set a new NBA record for most three-pointers made off the bench in a single season, hitting 246 of them. That's a lot of long-range bombs. He was also the only non-starter in the entire league to crack the 1,000-point mark for the season. When you’re doing that on a team that wins over 60 games, you’re basically a lock for the trophy.
Why the Narrative Shifted
For a long time, the "Sixth Man" was the guy who came in, took ten shots in twelve minutes, and didn't really play defense. Pritchard changed that. He averaged 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists, but his real value was his "annoyance factor." If you watched any Celtics games last year, you saw him full-court pressing opposing point guards at 9:00 PM on a Tuesday in Charlotte like it was Game 7 of the Finals.
Voters like that. They like winners.
The last five winners of this award have all played for teams with at least 52 wins. It’s becoming a "Best Player on a Great Bench" award rather than a "Highest Scorer on a Bad Team" award. Malik Beasley was great for Detroit, but the Pistons just didn't have the win total to make his 16 points per game outweigh Pritchard's efficiency on a title contender.
Breaking Down the Final Voting
The race actually stayed interesting until about March. Ty Jerome was doing some incredible stuff in Cleveland, filling in gaps and keeping that Cavs offense humming while they dealt with backcourt injuries. Naz Reid was also in the mix for a repeat, though his stats took a tiny dip compared to his previous winning campaign.
The final tally looked like this:
- Payton Pritchard (BOS): 454 total points (82 first-place votes)
- Malik Beasley (DET): 279 total points (13 first-place votes)
- Ty Jerome (CLE): 91 total points (2 first-place votes)
- De'Andre Hunter (CLE): 33 total points (2 first-place votes)
It’s kinda wild to see Jerome and Hunter both up there from the same team. Usually, they split the "bench vote," but the Cavs were so good that voters felt they had to reward someone from that second unit.
The Malik Monk Mystery
A lot of people asked, "What happened to Malik Monk?" He was the betting favorite for a huge chunk of the early season. Honestly, it was a weird year in Sacramento. There were rumors for months that the Kings were trying to trade him, and his minutes fluctuated because of it. At one point, he was getting benched for seemingly no reason.
By the time the front office decided they were actually keeping him, the Pritchard train had already left the station. Monk finished strong, but you can’t miss that many opportunities to lead the conversation and still win.
What This Means for 2026 and Beyond
Now that we’re halfway through the 2025-26 season (it's January 2026 as I write this), the landscape has shifted again. Pritchard is still a beast, but he’s actually started a fair amount of games recently due to injuries in the Boston backcourt. To win 6 man of the year 2025, you have to come off the bench more than you start.
Right now, the betting odds for the next trophy are leaning back toward Naz Reid. He’s currently a +300 favorite. But keep an eye on Jaime Jaquez Jr. in Miami and Anthony Black in Orlando. Those guys are redefining the role again—focusing on defense, playmaking, and versatility rather than just standing in the corner waiting for a shot.
The era of the "Bench Microwaver" isn't dead, but it’s definitely evolving. You can’t just score anymore; you have to contribute to winning basketball.
Lessons from the 2025 Race
If you’re looking at these awards from a betting or fan perspective, remember these three things:
- Winning is a Requirement: Don't look at players on teams below .500. They rarely win.
- Efficiency over Volume: A guy scoring 14 on 47% shooting beats a guy scoring 17 on 41% shooting almost every time now.
- The "Celtics Factor": Boston has now produced two of the last three winners (Brogdon in '23, Pritchard in '25). Their system is designed for a sixth man to flourish.
To truly understand the value of a player like Pritchard, you have to look past the box score. Watch how the lead changes when the starters sit. If the lead grows, you've found your Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
Next Steps for Fans and Analysts:
Check the current "Games Started" stats for your favorite bench players. To remain eligible for the 6MOY award, a player must come off the bench in more games than they start. If a candidate like Naz Reid or Keldon Johnson starts too many games due to injury fill-ins, they might be disqualified from the race regardless of how well they play. Keep a running tally of these starts to stay ahead of the narrative shifts as the 2026 season progresses.