Immanuel Quickley the favorite to win NBA Sixth Man of the Year

Barring a significant change down the stretch, Immanuel Quickley will be adding more hardware to his shelf very soon.

With two weeks left in the NBA season, the former Kentucky player is the heavy favorite to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award. In his third season with the New York Knicks, Quickley averages 14.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game on a shooting split of 44.5/36.2/81.0.

Quickley has not lost his grateful attitude throughout his recent success.

“For me, it’s really just not skipping steps. Take every day as a day that God gives you to share your gift, and mine is basketball,” Quickley said following the Knicks’ win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday. “I don’t take no days for granted.”

Here is Immanuel Quickley getting absolutely swarmed by kids pic.twitter.com/PVrRhoG1lq

— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) April 2, 2023

Immanuel Quickley’s rise to the top

The 6-foot-3 guard’s journey to the top hasn’t been easy. In his rookie season, Quickley sat behind Elfrid Payton despite averaging more points and shooting 10% better from beyond the arc. Quickley didn’t let the sideline slow him down, earning a spot on the All-Rookie Second Team.

Although the Baltimore native wowed NBA voters, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t convinced. During his sophomore campaign, Quickley took a backseat to Kemba Walker and Alec Burks. Nonetheless, the budding star earned four more minutes per outing compared to his rookie season.

Now averaging 28.7 minutes per contest and finishing games in the fourth quarter, Quickley is at the forefront of the Knicks’ future. The former SEC Player of the Year solidified this position on March 27 in the Knicks’ win over the Houston Rockets. Quickley dropped a career-high 40 points and nine assists while shooting 14-18 from the field in the victory.

Making a name for himself

While everyone focused on Quickley’s scoring following the performance, he pointed to other contributing factors.

“We were going at it, as far as working out and weight-lighting, pretty much four times a week, five times a week [this summer], and it was pretty rigorous,” Quickley said after the career-high showing. “Everybody says the offense, but the defense as well is what’s keeping me on the floor.“

Immanuel Quickley tonight:

40 PTS
9 AST
14-17 FG
5-7 3P

First 40-point game of his career. pic.twitter.com/0GjwQQBKw4

— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 28, 2023

With the NBA playoffs less than two weeks away, the Knicks will want Quickley on the floor as much as possible. The talented guard leads the team in +/- this season with a +282. The next closest Knick is 79 points behind.

This isn’t the only impressive statistic Quickley can boast. If he wins the Sixth Man of the Year Award, he will be the first player to do so while averaging fewer than 15 points per game since Jamal Crawford won the award in 2016. Quickley will look to cement himself as the award winner in the Knicks’ remaining three contests.