OKC Thunder All-Decade Sixth man
By Rylan Stiles
The OKC Thunder All-Decade team ends with the sixth man, in yet another runaway finish.
Whew, that is it. The end of the decade, and the end of the OKC Thunder All-Decade team. We have finished the starting five and the head coach, but now it is time to see who is first off the bench for this All-Decade squad?
As was the case for most of the roster, this slot has a runaway, no doubt, clear-cut, bonafide winner. It is indisputable, in fact. Yet still, as always, I will present three options and you will be able to vote on them as soon as this article is live over on the Thunderous Intentions twitter page.
Check out the past articles of this series:
The OKC Thunder All-Decade starting lineup concludes with this article. So far we have run through the following.
Candidate Number one
James Harden, OKC Thunder from 2009-2012
This is your award winner, spoiler alert, but what James Harden did as the sixth man of some of the most successful Thunder teams ever was nothing short of incredible. He won the 2011-12 sixth man of the year award, the year the squad went to the NBA Finals and fell to the Miami big three.
In three seasons off the bench in Oklahoma City, James Harden scored 12 points per contest, three rebounds, and almost three assists, as well as a steal per game. Harden did it all, but the Thunder mainly enjoyed his elite three-point shooting, seeing his OKC career average almost hit 40 percent from deep.
In that sixth man of the year season, Harden posted 16 points per game, and 39 percent shooting from three-point land. He went on a tear throughout the Western Conference Playoffs before going ice cold in the NBA Finals against Miami.
The magical ride with the shooting guard is known as “The Beard” ended with a huge trade that came just before the 2012 season.
Despite how it ended, as controversial as it may be for the front office, James Harden is still the best sixth man the OKC Thunder has ever had.
Candidate number two
Reggie Jackson, OKC Thunder from 2011-2015
Things ended extremely messy between the OKC Thunder and Reggie Jackson, yet he is still one of the best OKC Thunder sixth men they have ever had, and one of it not the best backup point guards in team history.
Throughout Thunder history, Jackson averaged nine points and three assists per contest.
Candidate number three:
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Derek Fisher
Derek Fisher spent three seasons in Oklahoma City and came off the bench to score five points per contest. Fisher brought leadership, and championship pedigree to the OKC Thunder, but was a far cry from his famous Laker days when he was in Bricktown.
And the winner is
Third place: Derek Fisher. He was a fun little player, it will always be cool to say Derek Fisher played in Oklahoma City.
Second Place: Reggie Jackson. Again, despite how it ended, Reggie Jackson is somehow, the second-best sixth man in OKC Thunder history.
Winner: James Harden. I mean of course, right? This poll should absolutely come back 100 percent, the answer has to be James Harden.
Next. Controversy at the Power Forward spot. dark
So there you have it, the end of my OKC Thunder All-Decade team. Who finds their way onto your list? Who are your top Thunder players of the decade? Sound off in the comment section below.