Nickeil Alexander-Walker makes Hawks, NBA Most Improved Player history after win originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Atlanta Hawks have been great at player development in the past few years. There is no greater evidence of this than Jalen Johnson and Co. being able to go up 2-1 against the New York Knicks in the postseason. But, there is one standout in the squad who has done amazingly. So much so, he won NBA Most Improved Player and notched some historic feats — Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
The expectation was that either Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers or Jalen Duren would the ones to win the NBA Most Improved Player of the Year award. In a great twist of events for the Hawks, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the one who notched the award.
During the 2024-25 season, Alexander-Walker was only able to register averages of 9.4 points while knocking down 44% of his shots from the field and dishing out 2.7 assists. Fast forward a season later, the Hawks saw him increase his production as he scored 20.8 points on a 46% field goal clip and 3.7 assists on a nightly basis.
This NBA Most Improved Player win by Alexander-Walker notches a lot of historic feats too. Through his win, the Hawks have now won the award for two years in a row. Notably, Dyson Daniels took the hardware home back in the 2024-25 season. They are the first team in league history to have won the award back-to-back, per StatMuse. This is a great display of player development for the Hawks given how they've managed to springboard two players into stardom for consecutive years.
Alexander-Walker is also the third Hawks player to have won the NBA Most Improved Player award. Alan Henderson was the first to win for the franchise back in 1998. The Hawks had to wait 27 years until Daniels won it again in 2025. Now, they did not have the same waiting time because of the consecutive wins.
More than that, Alexander-Walker became the oldest NBA Most Improved Player winner since 2014. Goran Dragic was 27 years old when he won it, Alexander-Walker shares the same age now. Darrell Armstrong still remains the oldest player to have taken that piece of hardware home because he was 30 years and 317 days old upon winning with the Orlando Magic. He notched this feat way back in 1999.
In the past decade, the winner of the NBA Most Improved Player award becomes a crucial focal point in a team's postseason success. Will this remain true for the Hawks?