Ben Gordon wins Sixth Man Award

By Benjy Lipsman in News on May 3, 2005 8:37PM

Demoted from the starting lineup after a handful of games, Bulls rookie Ben Gordon found his identity within this year's surprising team. Like the star closer in baseball, Ben Gordon regularly finished out games for the Bulls while scoring 10+ points in the 4th quarter 21 times. This incredible feat and the Bulls success that depended on it earned Ben Gordon the Sixth Man award today.

Gordon is the first rookie to win the award since its inception in 1983. He easily won the award gaining 88 of 125 first place votes and 513 total points. Boston's Ricky Davis finished second in the voting with 17 first place votes and 257 points. Earl Boykins, from the Denver Nuggets, finished third in the voting.

For the season, Gordon averaged 15.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while playing just over 24 minutes. While David averages 16 ppg, voters recognized the critical role Gordon played in so many Bulls wins. Hopefully he's got a few more magican quarters left in him this year...

While equally deserving of the Rookie of the Year award that will be handed out tomorrow, reports say that Gordon's college teammate and best friend Emeka Okafor will take home that piece of hardware.