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The 25 Greatest Sixth Men Of All Time

By Carter Johnson

Oct 28, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili (20) reacts after a shot against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 101-100. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Manu Ginobili (20) reacts after a shot against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at AT&T Center. The Spurs won 101-100. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports /
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Golden State Warriors
Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) poses with the Larry O’Brien Trophy as Golden State Warriors guard Andre Iguodala (9) celebrates with the NBA Finals MVP trophy after beating the Cleveland Cavaliers in game six of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

22. Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors

7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 1.2 SPG in 1 season as 6th Man

Accolades: 1X Finals MVP (2015), 1X NBA Champion (2015) 

So, you know how I said players with less than two years of experience weren’t considered? Well, I lied — but this is the only one, I promise.

Sure, Andre Iguodala has only been a reserve for one season, but what a season it was for the 11-year veteran.

New head coach Steve Kerr came in and immediately made some shakeups in the roster that Mark Jackson assembled, the most notable of which was promoting Harrison Barnes and Draymond Green to the starting lineup and moving Iguodala and fellow veteran David Lee to the bench.

While the latter didn’t see much playing time, the former had quite the impact off the bench, especially during the team’s improbable run to the Finals.

Iguodala averaged 10.4 points, 4.5 boards, 3.6 dimes and 1.2 steals a night for the Warriors during their playoff run. More importantly, Iggy stepped up in the NBA Finals, making his first starts of the season in the last three games of the series and providing the solution for a team couldn’t find an answer for the walking triple-double that was LeBron James in Games 1-3.

Iggy finished the series with 16.3 points, 4.0 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game while holding the King to 38 percent shooting in the final three contests on his way to his first championship and a Finals MVP nod, becoming only the second Sixth Man to earn that distinction.

Even with the emergence of Draymond Green as the team’s Swiss Army Knife this season, Iguodala is still putting up solid numbers in the sixth man slot with 7.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

Iguodala’s value to last year’s championship team and this year’s assumed championship team were simply too great to ignore in making this list.

Next: The Beard