This was Payton Pritchard’s year. Coming off winning a ring, he was asked to step up his role as sixth man and get the Celtics through the long grind of the NBA season. He did that with career highs of 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists a game, and Pritchard knocked down a career-high 255 3-pointers, the fifth highest total in the league this season and the second most in a season in Celtics franchise history. Boston was +428 points this season in the minutes Pritchard was on the court.
All that made Pritchard the runaway winner of the 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award. He received 82 of the 100 first-place votes from a global panel of media members.
Payton Pritchard, the 2024-25 Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year!
☘️ Most 3PM in a season off the bench in NBA history (246)
☘️ Most PTS off the bench this season (1,079)@Kia | #KiaSixthpic.twitter.com/wZaDQXgDOd— NBA (@NBA) April 22, 2025
Pritchard becomes the fourth Celtic to win the award and joins some illustrious names to take that honor.
Payton Pritchard joins the ranks with some ELITE previous Celtics SMOTY winners pic.twitter.com/nfgaAGXweP
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 23, 2025
Detroit’s Mikal Bridges finished second in the voting with Cleveland’s Ty Jerome third. The Cavaliers’ De’Andre Hunter and the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid rounded out the top five.
