Atlanta's Nickeil Alexander-Walker wins the NBA's Most Improved Player award

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Atlanta's Nickeil Alexander-Walker wins the NBA's Most Improved Player award

2026-04-25 07:42 Last Updated At：07:50

ATLANTA (AP) — Nickeil Alexander-Walker was voted the NBA’s 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.

It was, by far, the best statistical season of Alexander-Walker’s career after Dyson Daniels won the trophy last season.

“I'm glad I love this game so much,” Alexander-Walker said. “I don't know where I'd be without it. Glad that I had people who believed in me when I didn't, and when they say it takes a village, I used every single person in mine.”

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.

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 — 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.

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's starting lineup early with Trae Young dealing with a knee injury. His status as a full-time starter was solidified after a January trade sent Young to Washington for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.

Alexander-Walker's 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.

“When you're Shai's cousin, a lot of times you get referred to as Shai's cousin,” Alexander-Walker said. “Being recognized for being Nickeil Alexander-Walker feels great.”

Daniels, one year removed from winning the award after leading the league in steals, said it's more proof that the Hawks are elite in player development.

“I think Atlanta has a really good development pathway," Daniels said Friday. "Guys 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's what Nickeil's come in and done this year, and our offense has taken a huge jump.”

This was the fifth award to be announced by the NBA since the end of the regular season. The others:

— San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama became the youngest Defensive Player of the Year, and the first to win the award in a unanimous vote.

— Gilgeous-Alexander nearly became the first unanimous winner of the Clutch Player of the Year award. He got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes.

— San Antonio’s Keldon Johnson topped Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. for Sixth Man of the Year, getting 63 first-place votes.

— Boston’s Derrick White won the Sportsmanship Award, edging out Indiana’s TJ McConnell. That award, unlike most others, is selected solely by active NBA players.

Other award announcements still to come include MVP (either Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver’s Nikola Jokic), Coach of the Year (either Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson or Boston’s Joe Mazzulla), and Rookie of the Year (either Philadelphia’s VJ Edgecombe, Dallas’ Cooper Flagg or Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel).

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NBA postseason guide: Schedule, stories, betting odds, how to watch and more

Down 3-1 to the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference first-round series, the Philadelphia 76ers looked doomed.

Far from it.

For the 11th consecutive season, a road team has won a Game 7 in the NBA playoffs. Philadelphia did the honors on Saturday night, and on Sunday, the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors will look to join that club.

Orlando goes to Detroit, and Toronto goes to Cleveland to wrap up the first round. The winners of those games will meet Tuesday in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal series.

— Game 7, Orlando at Detroit, 3:30 p.m. EDT (ABC)

Series: Tied, 3-3.

Odds: Detroit by 8.5.

The Pistons are playing a Game 7 for the 11th time and the first since 2006. The Magic are playing their fifth Game 7, the first since 2024.

— Game 7, Toronto at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Series: Tied, 3-3.

Odds: Cleveland by 8.5.

The Raptors are in their seventh Game 7 and first since 2020. The Cavaliers are in their ninth Game 7, their first since 2024.

— Game 1, Philadelphia at New York, 8 p.m. EDT (NBC/Peacock)

Odds: New York by 7.5 points.

It's the fifth time (including the Syracuse era for the 76ers) that the teams have met in a conference semifinal series. Philadelphia won each of the previous four, going a combined 14-2 in those games.

— Game 1, Minnesota at San Antonio, 9:30 p.m. EDT (Peacock/NBCSN)

Odds: San Antonio by 13.5.

Spurs beat the Timberwolves 3-1 in the first round of the 1999 and 2001 playoffs. The teams haven't had a playoff series since, until now.

— 76ers 109, Celtics 100 to win series 4-3. Jayson Tatum didn't play.

A breakdown of this season's NBA awards:

— Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year: DeAndre Jordan, New Orleans.

— Hustle Award: Moussa Diabaté, Charlotte.

— Defensive Player of the Year: Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio.

— Clutch Player of the Year: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City.

— Sixth Man of the Year: Keldon Johnson, San Antonio.

— Sportsmanship Award: Derrick White, Boston.

— Most Improved Player: Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta.

— Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg, Dallas.

— Executive of the Year: Brad Stevens, Boston.

Among the announcements still to come:

— Most Valuable Player: Gilgeous-Alexander, Wembanyama or Denver's Nikola Jokic.

— Coach of the Year: Detroit's J.B. Bickerstaff, San Antonio's Mitch Johnson or Boston's Joe Mazzulla.

Defending champion Oklahoma City (-140) is favored to win the NBA title, oddsmakers say.

Entering Sunday, the Thunder were followed by San Antonio (+300), New York (+900), Detroit (+2000), Cleveland (+2200) and the Los Angeles Lakers (+3000). Philadelphia (+3500, from +10000 on Saturday) is next, followed by Minnesota (+15000). Orlando entered Sunday at +40000.

The Flyers are in the second round of the NHL playoffs. The 76ers are in the second round of the NBA playoffs.

This is a great thing for Philadelphia — and a bit of a scheduling headache for the Sixers' home arena.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were supposed to play there on Friday, but that night will be Game 3 of Knicks-76ers. Springsteen's concert was moved to May 30, which will become the final night of his 20-stop tour.

He also is going to play at Madison Square Garden twice in the next two weeks, but those dates — May 11 and May 16 — won't conflict with any planned Knicks home games.

— Monday and Tuesday: Conference semifinals begin.

— May 10: NBA draft lottery.

— May 10-17: NBA draft combine.

— May 17 or 19: Eastern Conference finals begin on ESPN and ABC.

— May 18 or 20: Western Conference finals begin on NBC and Peacock.

— June 3: Game 1, NBA Finals on ABC. (Other finals dates: June 5, June 8, June 10, June 13, June 16 and June 19).

— June 23: Round 1, NBA draft

— June 24: Round 2, NBA draft

"There’s two sides of every coin. When you go after greatness, you have to accept the other side of that." — Boston coach Joe Mazzulla, after the Celtics lost to Philadelphia in Game 7 of their East first-round series.

— Even with Saturday's season-ending loss, Boston won 57% of its games this season when missing 30 or more 3-pointers. The rest of the league has won in that scenario 35% of the time this season.

— Philadelphia's Kyle Lowry has been part of two Game 7 road wins in his career. Both were at Boston — the 2023 East finals with Miami, and then Saturday night's victory.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba