Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon wins third annual ‘Tommy Award’ amid stellar season
Brogdon wins third annual ‘Tommy Award’ amid stellar season for C’s originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics’ trade for Malcolm Brogdon last summer was hailed as one of the best moves of the offseason.
Eight months later, it’s hard to argue with that assessment.
Ahead of Boston’s game against the Utah Jazz at TD Garden on Friday night, Brogdon was presented with the third annual season-long “Tommy Award,” which honors late Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn by recognizing the C’s player who best embodies attributes of hustle, effort, and pride throughout the season.
Brogdon joins Robert Williams (2022) and Marcus Smart (2021) as third winner of the season-long Tommy Award, which was established in 2021 after Heinsohn passed away in November 2020.
Heinsohn, who won eight championships as a player and two more as a coach in Boston before becoming the Celtics’ beloved color commentator for four decades alongside Mike Gorman, would have loved Brogdon’s game.
The veteran guard immediately put the team first when he accepted a bench role behind Smart despite starting every game the previous three seasons. On the court, Brogdon is a level-headed floor general who’s excellent at using his strength to get to the paint and finish at the rim. (We can hear Tommy after one of Brogdon’s drives … “Now THAT’S how you get to the basket!!”)
Simply put, Brogdon has done whatever the Celtics have asked of him this season, from creating his own offense on Boston’s second unit to facilitating while playing alongside the C’s starters. He ranks fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage (44.1 percent) and is the team’s third-leading scorer behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown despite ranking seventh in minutes played (25.8).
The Celtics needed more depth and experience after falling to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Finals, and Brogdon has delivered both and then some. He’s a big reason why Boston’s bench boasts the fourth-best net rating in the NBA (2.1), and why the Celtics have a legitimate chance to finish what they started last summer.
Here’s a look at the all-time single-game winners of the Tommy Award, which Heinsohn began handing out during the 2001-02 season:
NBC Sports Boston
Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo top the all-time Tommy Award winners list.
Source: Yahoo Sports
