The greatest sixth man from each NBA team
Greatest sixth man in Washington Wizards: Tracy Murray
The Washington Wizards, previously the Bullets, have mostly existed outside of the top levels of contention. After back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals in the late 70s, including the franchise’s lone title, Washington has not played in another Conference Finals, let alone NBA Finals.
The 1990s were more downswing than upswing, with eight losing seasons out of ten. Yet the bright spot of two winning seasons and a trip to the playoffs occurred in 1997-99, led by All-Star forward Chris Webber.
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Sixth man Tracy Murray was a key part of those winning seasons. After a handful of seasons in the Western Conference, the small forward signed with Toronto and had something akin to a breakout season as a sixth man. He then signed with Washington as a free agent in the summer of 1996.
Filling the role of sixth man was a perfect fit for the forward, who could find more offensive traction playing against bench players. Murray played 280 games for the Bullets and Wizards, starting only 21 of them. His best season came in 1997-98 when he averaged 15.1 points off the bench. He dropped 50 points on the Warriors in February of 1998, and received votes for Sixth Man of the Year after the season.
Next. The greatest shot blocker in each team's history. dark
The NBA is too talented to fit all of the great players into starting lineups, and a number of teams have relied on strong bench players to drive them to success. For all of the players named here and all who were not, the tradition of the Sixth Man is going strong in the league today just as it has throughout the league’s rich past.