In the NBA, there are five players on the court for each team at any one time. Five guys get to start for each squad. The "sixth man" is the first guy off the bench. While some teams mix things up and don't always bring the same guy off the bench first, many teams do have an obvious top player who for whatever reason doesn't start and comes off the bench each game. These guys are usually good enough to start, and almost all of them were starters, and often actual stars, for much of their career. But at the time, they were coming off the bench.

Related Link: NBA History

1982-83 - Bobby Jones, Philadelphia
1983-84 - Kevin McHale, Boston
1984-85 - Kevin McHale, Boston
1985-86 - Bill Walton, Boston
1986-87 - Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee
1987-88 - Roy Tarpley, Dallas
1988-89 - Eddie Johnson, Phoenix
1989-90 - Ricky Pierce, Milwaukee
1990-91 - Detlef Schrempf, Indiana
1991-92 - Detlef Schrempf, Indiana
1992-93 - Clifford Robinson, Portland
1993-94 - Dell Curry, Charlotte
1994-95 - Anthony Mason, New York
1995-96 - Toni Kukoc, Chicago
1996-97 - John Starks, New York
1997-98 - Danny Manning, Phoenix
1998-99 - Darrell Armstrong, Orlando
1999-2000 - Rodney Rogers, Phoenix
2000-01 - Aaron McKie, Philadelphia
2001-02 - Corliss Williamson, Detroit
2002-03 - Bobby Jackson, Sacramento
2003-04 - Antawn jamison, Dallas
2004-05 - Ben Gordon, Chicago