Atlanta's Crawford nabs honors as league's tops off bench

The Atlanta Hawks' Jamal Crawford, who came off the bench in all 79 games in which he appeared this season, is the winner of the 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man Award presented by Kia Motors as the league's best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced Tuesday.

Crawford received 580 of a possible 610 points, including 110 of a possible 122 first-place votes, from a panel of 122 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Jason Terry of the Dallas Mavericks, who won the award last season, finished second with 220 points and Anderson Varejao of the Cleveland Cavaliers finished third with 126 points.

In order to be eligible, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.

As part of its support of the Sixth Man Award, Kia Motors America will donate a 2011 Kia Sorento CUV on behalf of Crawford to Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta. Kia Motors will present a brand new Sorento, the Official Vehicle of the NBA, to the charity of choice of each of four 2009-10 season-end award winners as part of the "The NBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors." Following this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 12 new vehicles to charity since the program began in 2008.

Crawford, Atlanta's second leading scorer at 18 points a game, led the league in that category among players who didn't start a game and paced the team in scoring 27 times. He ranked seventh overall in 3-point field goals (163) and 18th in free-throw percentage (.857). Over the last 40 years, only Ricky Pierce (1989-90, 23.0 ppg) posted a higher scoring average without starting a single game. His 163 three-pointers were the second most by a bench player since Chuck Person of the Indiana Pacers connected for 164 in 1991-92.

Crawford recorded nine four-point plays, bringing his all-time NBA-leading career total to 28. The 6-foot-5 guard scored at least 20 points 32 times, including one 30-point effort. Crawford scored his 10,000th career point at Golden State Feb. 21, and dished out his 2,500th career assist at Sacramento Nov. 4.

The 2009-10 NBA Sixth Man Award presented by Kia Motors is part of a series of on-court performance awards called "The NBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors." The series, currently in its third season, is a significant part of the multiyear marketing partnership between Kia Motors America and the NBA, and also includes the Most Improved Player, Defensive Player and Most Valuable Player of the Year awards. It also includes the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month presented by Kia Motors, which are awarded during the regular season. For more information on the "The NBA Performance Awards Presented by Kia Motors" visit www.NBA.com/performanceawards.