ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Nickeil Alexander-Walker was voted the NBA\u2019s 2026 Most Improved Player on Friday, beating out finalists Deni Avdija and Jalen Duren to become the second Hawks player to win the award in two years.<\/p>\n
It was, by far, the best statistical season of Alexander-Walker\u2019s career after\u00a0Dyson Daniels<\/a>\u00a0won the trophy last season.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad I love this game so much,\u201d Alexander-Walker said. \u201cI don\u2019t know where I\u2019d be without it. Glad that I had people who believed in me when I didn\u2019t, and when they say it takes a village, I used every single person in mine.\u201d<\/p>\n He scored a career-best 20.8 points per game, more than doubling his average from his first six pro seasons. He shot a career-best 46% and also averaged more assists (3.7), rebounds (3.4) and steals (1.3) than ever before.<\/p>\n Part of the rise in numbers was in part to a rise in minutes; he logged 2,603 this season, 530 more than his previous career best. That said, he earned those minutes \u2014 the 251 3-pointers, 277 free throws made, 40% clip from 3-point range and 90% clip from the foul line all were his best.<\/p>\n In the first year of a four-year, $62 million contract with the Hawks, Alexander-Walker started the season as a sixth man and moved into Atlanta\u2019s starting lineup early with Trae Young dealing with a knee injury. His status as a full-time starter was solidified after a\u00a0January trade<\/a>\u00a0sent Young to Washington for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.<\/p>\n Alexander-Walker\u2019s win adds to the award haul for his family; his cousin is Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning MVP and a finalist for MVP honors again this season.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re Shai\u2019s cousin, a lot of times you get referred to as Shai\u2019s cousin,\u201d Alexander-Walker said. \u201cBeing recognized for being Nickeil Alexander-Walker feels great.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniels, one year removed from winning the award after leading the league in steals, said it\u2019s more proof that the Hawks are elite in player development.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Atlanta has a really good development pathway,\u201d Daniels said Friday. \u201cGuys come in here, get their work in, and (Hawks coach Quin Snyder is) really good at giving guys opportunities to play free and be themselves. That\u2019s what Nickeil\u2019s come in and done this year, and our offense has taken a huge jump.\u201d<\/p>\n This was the fifth award to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. The others:<\/p>\n \u2014 San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama became the youngest\u00a0Defensive Player of the Year,<\/a>\u00a0and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.<\/p>\n \u2014 Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the\u00a0Clutch Player of the Year<\/a>\u00a0award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.<\/p>\n \u2014 San Antonio\u2019s Keldon Johnson topped Miami\u2019s Jaime Jaquez Jr. for\u00a0Sixth Man of the Year,<\/a>\u00a0getting 63 first-place votes.<\/p>\n