Bobby Jackson of the Sacramento Kings has been named the winner of the 2002-03 NBA Sixth Man Award, honoring the league’s top player in a reserve role, the NBA announced today.

The first member of the Sacramento Kings to win the NBA Sixth Man Award and only the second point guard to be so honored (the other was Darrell Armstrong in 1999), Jackson appeared in 59 games this season, starting 26 in place of the injured Mike Bibby. This season, the 6-foot-1 guard posted a career-best scoring average of 15.2 points per game (20.2 ppg as a starter).

Jackson received 362 points, including 52 of a possible 118 first-place votes, from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Michael Redd of the Milwaukee Bucks finished second with 257 points and the Utah Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko finished third with 127 points. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote received.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injured left hand, Jackson still led the Kings in scoring seven times, in assists six times and in rebounding three times. He turned in a career-best performance versus the Los Angeles Clippers on November 29 when he tallied 31 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.

In his sixth NBA season and third with the Kings, Jackson helped Sacramento to its fifth consecutive winning campaign. This year’s 59 wins are the second most in franchise history behind last year’s total of 61. As the second seed in the West for the 2003 NBA Playoffs, the Kings are making their fifth straight playoff appearance.

A native of Salisbury, North Carolina, Jackson was a first round selection by Seattle in the 1997 NBA Draft (23rd overall). He was signed by Sacramento as a free agent on August 1, 2000.


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