Fly the Towel: Cult hero Naz Reid takes home Sixth Man of the Year honors

Minnesota Timberwolves big man Naz Reid has won the 2023-24 Kia NBA Sixth Award, also known as the John Havlicek Trophy.

Reid officially becomes the first player in Timberwolves franchise history to earn the honors and the third undrafted player in the Association to accomplish the feat, joining John Starks (1996-97) and Darrell Armstrong (1998-99).

Timberwolves fans waving their Naz Reid towels proudly after the big man claims Sixth Man of the Year Honors

The Timberwolves gave away Reid city edition beach towels on Mar. 22 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota faithful will continue waving them proudly after the fan-favorite beat out finalists Malik Monk (Sacramento Kings) and Bobby Portis (Milwaukee Bucks) to earn the recognition.

Here is a closer look at how the voting results shook out:

As you can see, it was an uncomfortably tight race between Reid and Monk, with the former edging out the latter by two first-place votes and 10 total points and Portis a distant third in the running.

Reid played a critical role in the Timberwolves exceeding the 50-win threshold for the first time in over two decades and attaining the No. 3 seed in a stacked Western Conference playoff picture, notably filling in admirably for All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, who missed 18 games down the stretch of the season from Mar. 4 to Apr. 10 due to a torn meniscus. 

Since entering the league in 2019, Reid has established himself as one of the more dynamic scoring bigs, especially off the bench. He posted career-highs virtually across the board, averaging 13.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per contest with .477/.414/.736 shooting splits.

After signing a three-year, $42 million contract extension this past offseason, Reid has proven to be worth every penny and then some, making his deal one of the better values in the league.