The NBA announced April 24th that Dallas Mavericks guard Jason Terry is the winner of the 2008-09 NBA Sixth Man Award presented by Kia Motors as the league’s best reserve. Terry becomes third Maverick to win the honor (Antawn Jamison, 2003-04; Roy Tarpley, 1987-88).  

“This is a tremendous honor. I could not have accomplished this without my coaching staff and my teammates,” Terry said. “I am thankful to the entire Mavericks organization and the voters for helping me to reach this goal. However, this award really belongs to all the Mavericks fans. They are the best in the NBA and the real sixth man.”

Terry averaged 19.6 points (22^nd in NBA), more than each of the last 18 Sixth Man of the Year winners and fourth all-time among honorees. He also contributed 2.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals (17^th) and 33.7 minutes in 74 games (11 starts) while single-handedly outscoring the opposing bench 26 times. The 10^th-year guard shot 46.3 percent from the floor, 36.6 percent from 3-point range and 88.0 percent from the line (career-best, 11^th in NBA).

In helping the Mavericks to their ninth consecutive 50-win season, Terry recorded 40 20-point games with 33 of those coming as a reserve. Terry made at least one 3-point field goal in 42 consecutive games from November 19 to March 4. He closed the season by hitting a 3-pointer in the last 20 games.

Terry received 576 of a possible 605 points, including 111 of a possible 121 first place votes, from a panel of 121 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. The voting results are as follows: