Alexander-Walker wins Most Improved Player: “Now it all makes sense”

Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the Most Improved Player for the 2025-26 NBA season. The Atlanta Hawks guard caps off a season of massive growth, becoming the symbol of the team’s transformation and taking home an award that confirms his definitive leap.

In his seventh NBA season, Alexander-Walker has reached full breakout status. The numbers say it all: 20.8 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals per game, with significant improvements in shooting efficiency and three-point shooting.

A huge jump from the 9.4 points per game he averaged last season in Minnesota, marking a +11.4 scoring increase – one of the largest in the past 25 years.

For the second straight year, the award goes to a Hawks player, following Dyson Daniels.

Alexander-Walker’s words: “Now it all makes sense”

The award moment carried strong emotional weight. The player shared what the recognition means after years of belief:

This award really gives meaning to what I’ve always felt inside. Sometimes you think you see something that others don’t see yet. This feels like an ‘I told you so,’ but more than anything, it shows me I wasn’t crazy for believing this much

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

He then added:

This game has made me feel out of place at times, but also extremely motivated. Honestly, it still hasn’t fully sunk in. I go from wanting to cry to wanting to scream with joy

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Records and impact: a star-making season

One of the most impressive stats is his three-point shooting: 251 made threes, a franchise record and one of the top marks in the entire NBA.

I think it all came down to the opportunity I was given and how I chose to approach it. When you get a chance like that, you have to grab it and never let it go

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Alexander-Walker also explained the mindset behind his season:

At certain points in your career, you realize you have to go all in and live everything to the fullest. I held on with everything I had – and I still am

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

A recognition that means even more

The award also carries strong symbolic value. Alexander-Walker is the cousin of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, an NBA MVP and Finals MVP – but now his name stands on its own.

It feels great to make my family proud. Being called ‘Shai’s cousin’ is part of the story, but now being recognized as Nickeil Alexander-Walker means a lot to me

Nickeil Alexander-Walker

With back-to-back Most Improved Player winners on the roster, Atlanta makes NBA history. Alexander-Walker has taken center stage, turning a season of opportunity into a season of arrival.