FILE – Jordan Clarkson #00 of the Utah Jazz dribbles during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on March 03, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images/AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Jordan Clarkson, the NBA’s latest Sixth Man of the Year, made sure to pay homage to the oldheads that paved the way.
Clarkson mentioned his former teammates JR Smith and Lou Williams as well as Jamal Crawford—all of whom had previously won the award.
“Having a teammate like JR, Lou Will, and even just having conversations with Jamal, there’s just something they all kind of passed down to me,” said Clarkson, the first Utah Jazz player to win the award, during a media availability Tuesday (Manila time).
“I remember Lou was big on me in L.A. with slowing down with life and everything, just giving me so much knowledge that I really wasn’t able to accept when I was a young player in the NBA. But all the stuff he told me I really took it into account as I got older.”
Clarkson played with Williams for two seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers before he was traded to Cleveland where he and Smith became teammates for a couple of seasons.
Crawford and Williams are the only three-time Sixth Man of the Year awardees.
The Fil-American guard added he looked up to San Antonio Spurs star Manu Ginobili. Ginobili, a four-time champion, is considered one of the best players to have come off the bench.
‘BLESSED’ 🏆
LOOK: Utah Jazz Fil-am guard Jordan Clarkson celebrates winning the NBA Sixth Man award.
His teammate Joe Ingles, who surprised him with the trophy, came in second in the voting. 📷 Jordan Clarkson
READ: https://t.co/62HrEQxcPy pic.twitter.com/uWFiNc9OgQ
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) May 25, 2021
“Growing up watching Manu, I’ve said it before, he’s one guy that I really watched growing up and he really made this role really cool to me. I wanna be like Manu, taking moves and stuff like that. That was a big part,” he said.
Clarkson averaged 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists, a major reason why the Jazz claimed the No. 1 overall seeding this season.
He became the first player since Ginobili to average over 18 points, four rebounds and two assists as a reserve.
The 28-year-old Clarkson garnered 65 first-place votes, 26 second-place votes and four third-place votes for a total of 407 points in the ballot. One of his closest teammates in Joe Ingles finished second with 272 points while New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose came in third with 77 points.
Clarkson, though, has his eyes on the ultimate prize as he aims to help the Jazz win the NBA championship.
“Hopefully, we come to where we wanna get done in this playoffs–that’s winning a championship. That would be the biggest highlight of my year,” he said.
The Jazz hope to even their first round series with the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.