Dennis Schroder finished second for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award for the 2019-20 season, but there didn’t seem to be any bitterness on the part of the reserve guard toward Montrezl Harrell of the Los Angeles Clippers.
In a fairly tight race, Harrell won the honor, receiving 58 of 100 first-place votes. Schroder received 35, while Harrell’s teammate Lou Williams received the other seven. Harrell ended up with 397 points, narrowly edging Schroder, who ended up with 328 points.
The NBA issued the official release announcing the results on Friday, and on Saturday, Schroder took to his Instagram account to send Harrell a heartfelt congratulations.
“Congrats to my guy @trezz24,” Schroder wrote on his Instagram story.
“Your family is proud of you especially your GrandMa !!! Stay strong she watching over you at all times”
The remarks came after Harrell dedicated the award to his late grandmother on Friday.
“This is for my grandmother, who is not here with me today and isn’t going to be able to see this,” Harrell said to reporters on Friday after the announcement.
“She isn’t going to be able to see me do something that she instilled in me as a young child, a game that she brought to my attention as a young man and I fell in love with and worked my tail off at.”
Schroder, who led all qualifying bench scorers with 18.9 points per game, could have been bitter about the loss, but instead, in the spirit of the NBA’s great fraternity, sent a heartfelt congratulations to Harrell.
Obviously, the reigning Sixth Man of the Year appreciated the gesture.
