The greatest sixth man from each NBA team

Greatest sixth man in Milwaukee Bucks history: Ricky Pierce

Younger fans may think of the Milwaukee Bucks as an inconsistent franchise unable to launch, and see Giannis Antetokounmpo’s teams as the first hope at making a push. That fails to recognize a long and often successful history, a team that has been better than average more often than not.

From 1977 to 1991 under coaches Don Nelson and Del Harris the Bucks made the playoffs 13 of 14 seasons, unable to break through past Philadelphia or Boston to the Finals but sustaining success throughout. For seven of those seasons, the Bucks deployed one of their best players from the bench: Ricky Pierce.

Pierce was a sixth man in the popular sense, a combo guard able to pour in points at a moment’s hesitation. In 1989-90 Pierce came off the bench in every single game and still averaged 23 points per game. He is the only player since the NBA began recording starts in 1981 to average more than 20 points per game without starting even once.

In all, Pierce played 460 regular season games for the Bucks and only started 46 times. Twice he earned Sixth Man of the Year honors, once in 1987 and once after that prolific 1990 season. He would end up bouncing around the league as a journeyman scorer and play for eight separate franchises by the end, and on only one team (Seattle) was he a regular starter. Pierce was a perfect fit as a sixth man, and the Bucks were well rewarded by that.