NBA's 2nd-Ever Clutch Player of the Year Award Announced

The NBA began last year to hand out its Clutch Player of the Year award to the player who excels best in "clutch situations", which the league defines as games within five points with five minutes or fewer remaining on the clock.

And the winner is... Steph Curry. No big surprise there, as he has long been one of the most feared shooters in the NBA with the game on the line, and this year was no different.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry is the recipient of the Jerry West Trophy as the 2023-24 Kia NBA Clutch Player of the Year. pic.twitter.com/NyylEJXK2R
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 25, 2024

Curry led all scorers this season with 189 total points in those clutch situations as defined by the league. Not surprisingly, Curry also led the league in clutch threes made (32), more than double the second-best total of 13 threes made in the clutch by Damian Lillard and Buddy Hield.

Voting results for Clutch Player of the Year pic.twitter.com/27URdqjtGk
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 25, 2024

Overall, DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls finished a close 2nd in the balloting, followed by OKC Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (who's also in the running for MVP), then two-time MVP Nikola Jokic (who might just become a 3-time winner, if Shai doesn't take it), and in 5th in the balloting for Clutch Player, Jalen Brunson, which will not come as any surprise to New York Knicks fans.

Curry finished the season with averages of 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists, though his Warriors were eliminated from the Play-In and are not participating in the postseason.

De'Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings was the first winner of the Clutch Player Award last season. He finished 12th in the voting this year.