Last year, averaging 13.5 points made Danny Manning of Phoenix a runner-up for the NBA's Sixth Man Award. This year, it did the trick.
Manning, who tore a knee ligament near the end of the regular season, received the award Thursday, the day before the second reconstructive surgery on his right knee and his third overall. He delayed the operation in Los Angeles a day to be able to accept the hon-or.The award honors the best NBA player who doesn't start most of his team's games. The 6-foot-10 forward, who passed the 10,000-point plateau for his career during the season, started 11 of 70 games, including seven in a row before his right anterior cruciate ligament popped April 7 against Sacramento.
Manning, a two-time All-Star who was the No. 1 pick of the 1988 NBA draft, averaged 13.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 1996-97, and 13.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2 assists and 1.01 steals this season.
Manning received 57 of a possible 116 votes from a panel of sports writers and broadcasters in the United States and Canada. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers was second with 31 votes, and Dale Ellis of Seattle finished third with 21.