"Malik Beasley was robbed" - NBA fans react to Celtics' Payton Pritchard winning Sixth Man of the Year award
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard won the Sixth Man of the Year for the 2024-25 NBA season. Pritchard finished the campaign with 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 40.7 percent shooting from deep. The Celtics guard led the league with the most shots from the 3-point area with 246.
After securing the award, Payton Pritchard garnered attention from the fans. Other fans weren't high on Boston's sparkplug winning the prize, however. Here are some of what the fans said.
"Malik Beasley was robbed," a fan said.
"Sixth man of the year shouldn’t go to someone who’s on a superteam," another fan commented.
"Should’ve been Ty jerome," one fan said.
However, other fans were in full support of Pritchard winning the award.
"NO ONE DESERVED IT MORE," one fan said.
"Dude is a hooper. Could’ve went to any of the guys, but PP was very deserving," another fan said.
"Way to go Payton!" a fan commented.
Payton Pritchard has proven his importance to the team. Despite having stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown on the team, that hasn't hindered him from performing his best.
Payton Pritchard credits his hard work as the reason behind his breakout year
Payton Pritchard's season has been exceptional after he averaged the most points in his career. Although he showed flashes of what he could do on the floor last season. This year, however, he took full advantage of being the leader of the second unit.
The Celtics star was interviewed by Sports Illustrated and revealed what led to the best campaign of his career.
"It's like a compounding effect," the 6-foot-1 guard said. "You never know when you're going to break through. So over time, just getting a little bit better, a little bit better, a little bit better."
This season, he was the first in points off the bench, the first in threes off the bench, and the first in plus/minus off the bench. Additionally, Pritchard finished the campaign as the third in assists off the bench and fifth in total 3-pointers, according to StatMuse.
His teammate, veteran center Al Horford, has noticed Pritchard's development over the years. The five-time All-Star said that he's proud of the 27-year-old point guard. Like the 2025 Sixth Man of the Year, Horford credited his hard work, which has paid off.
The Celtics made the right move by giving Pritchard a four-year, $30 million contract extension in October 2023. The payday he got became motivation for him to perform his best in the most recent campaign.
Now that Boston is in the postseason, they'll need all the help they can get from Pritchard in their first-round series against the Orlando Magic.