(Basketball news) Tyler Herro won the 2021-22 Sixth Man of the Year award. Herro edged out fellow Suns player Cam Johnson and Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is the first member of the Miami Heat ever to win the award, and the first Heat player to win any of the major awards since LeBron James won MVP in the 2012-13 season.

Herro has averaged 20.7 points per game for the Heat, with 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.9 percent shooting from the 3 point line. Among teammates, only Jimmy Butler has averaged more points for the season, and no other player has even averaged 18 points per game. Herro is the first sixth man to average more than 20 points per game since Lou Williams did so during the 2018-19 season. Herro may have come off the bench for the Heat this season, but he consistently has been the most clutch player in the squad and was one of their main fourth-quarter scoring options. He led the team in both fourth-quarter points per game (5.6) and clutch points per game (2.3)

Marcus Smart was up against some tough centres for the Defensive Player of the Year award this year but he received just 37% of votes, which was more than the Suns forward Mikal Bridges and Jazz centre Rudy Gobert. Smart became just the second point guard to ever win the title since Gary Payton won it in 1996 when he played for the Seattle SuperSonics. Other names on the list included Bam Adebayo (Heat), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Robert Williams II (Celtics), Jrue Holiday (Bucks), Al Horford (Celtics), Draymond Green (Warriors), and Matisse Thybulle (76ers).

In the NBA it is very difficult for a guard to win the DPOY. Typically, it’s the centres and forwards who dominate this award because of their size. While Smart and Payton are the only two point guards to have won it, it tells us a story about how difficult it is for a point guard to win this award. It’s been even longer since a shooting guard won it as the last one was the great Michael Jordan in 1988. Smart finished the regular season tied for 10th in deflections (106) and charges drawn (16), seventh in steals per game (1.68), fifth among guards in the NBA (105.2 defensive rating), and first in the league in loose balls recovered per game (1.1).

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