NEW YORK – The Toronto Raptors’ Lou Williams, who averaged a career-high 15.5 points this season and helped Toronto win a franchise-record 49 games, is the winner of the 2014-15 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award as the league’s best player in a reserve role, the NBA announced today. The 6-1 guard becomes the first Raptors player to earn the honor.

Williams, in his 10^th NBA season and first with the Raptors, amassed 78 first-place votes and 502 total points from a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics finished second with 324 points (33 first-place votes), and two-time winner Jamal Crawford of the Los Angeles Clippers was third with 131 points (eight first-place votes).

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. To be eligible for the award, players had to have come off the bench in more games than they started.

Williams came off the bench in all 80 of his appearances and averaged 25.2 minutes. He led or tied for the team lead in scoring 18 times, second most in the league for a reserve, and the Raptors went 14-4 in those games. The 28-year-old also led the Raptors in free throw percentage (86.1) and made a career-high 152 three-pointers, nearly double his previous high of 88 set with the 76ers in 2010-11. On March 4, Williams set a Toronto record for points in a quarter with 21 in the fourth period against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

As part of its support of the Kia Sixth Man Award, Kia Motors America (KMA) will donate an all-new and more capable than ever 2016 Kia Sorento LX CUV to The Remix Project — which helps young people from disadvantaged communities who are trying to enter the creative industries or further their formal education — on behalf of Williams. Kia Motors will present a Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five 2014-15 year-end award winners as part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards. After this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 38 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA’s prestigious honors began in 2008.

The 2014-15 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award is part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards, a series of on-court performance awards. The series, in its eighth season, is part of a multiyear marketing partnership between KMA and the NBA, and includes five of the league’s most prestigious year-end honors: Kia Most Valuable Player, Kia Defensive Player of the Year, Kia Sixth Man Award, Kia Most Improved Player and Kia Rookie of the Year. The series also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month and the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month during the regular season. Kia Motors is the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, and the Kia Optima is the league’s Official Vehicle. For more information, please visit www.kia.com/NBA.

For the second year in a row, complete media voting results for each NBA annual award will be posted on nba.com/official after the announcement of each winner.

Below are the balloting results for the 2014-15 Kia NBA Sixth Man Award. The balloting was tabulated by the independent accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP.

2014-15 KIA NBA SIXTH MAN AWARD VOTING

Player                       Team               1^st Place (5 pts)   2^nd Place (3 Pts)     3^rd Place (1 Pt)    Total Points
Lou Williams            Toronto                    78                       34                          10                    502
Isaiah Thomas           Boston                      33                       46                          21                    324
Jamal Crawford          L.A. Clippers             8                         18                          37                    131
Andre Iguodala          Golden State              7                         16                          17                    100
Tristan Thompson     Cleveland                  —                         6                            15                    33
Nikola Mirotic           Chicago                         1                         4                            7                      24
Marreese Speights      Golden State              1                         2                            9                      20
Corey Brewer             Houston                    1                         1                            4                      12
Manu Ginobili           San Antonio              —                         3                            3                      12
Taj Gibson                 Chicago                     1                         —                            3                      8
Aaron Brooks            Chicago                     —                         —                            1                      1
Chris Kaman             Portland                    —                         —                            1                      1
Anthony Morrow       Oklahoma City          —                         —                            1                      1
Dennis Schröder        Atlanta                      —                         —                            1                      1

Below is the all-time list of winners:

ALL-TIME KIA NBA SIXTH MAN AWARD WINNERS

1982-83   Bobby Jones, Philadelphia 76ers
1983-84   Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
1984-85   Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics
1985-86   Bill Walton, Boston Celtics
1986-87   Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
1987-88   Roy Tarpley, Dallas Mavericks
1988-89   Eddie Johnson, Phoenix Suns
1989-90   Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee Bucks
1990-91   Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers
1991-92   Detlef Schrempf, Indiana Pacers
1992-93   Clifford Robinson, Portland Trail Blazers
1993-94   Dell Curry, Charlotte Hornets
1994-95   Anthony Mason, New York Knicks
1995-96   Toni Kukoc, Chicago Bulls
1996-97   John Starks, New York Knicks
1997-98   Danny Manning, Phoenix Suns
1998-99   Darrell Armstrong, Orlando Magic
1999-00   Rodney Rogers, Phoenix Suns
2000-01   Aaron McKie, Philadelphia 76ers
2001-02   Corliss Williamson, Detroit Pistons
2002-03   Bobby Jackson, Sacramento Kings
2003-04   Antawn Jamison, Dallas Mavericks
2004-05   Ben Gordon, Chicago Bulls
2005-06   Mike Miller, Memphis Grizzlies
2006-07   Leandro Barbosa, Phoenix Suns
2007-08   Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
2008-09   Jason Terry, Dallas Mavericks
2009-10   Jamal Crawford, Atlanta Hawks
2010-11   Lamar Odom, Los Angeles Lakers
2011-12   James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder
2012-13   J.R. Smith, New York Knicks
2013-14   Jamal Crawford, Los Angeles Clippers
2014-15   Lou Williams, Toronto Raptors