Hawks achieve NBA first with consecutive MIP winners. Nickeil Alexander-Walker claims the award, dominating offensively and breaking franchise records.
The Most Improved Player in the NBA belongs to the Atlanta Hawks once again. On Friday night, shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker took home one of the prestigious NBA awards, the Most Improved Player of the year.
Alexander-Walker is the oldest player to win the award since Goran Dragic in 2014. NAW is 27-years-old.
And the Hawks made HBA history by becoming the first ever franchise to have back-to-back Most Improved Players since the award started to be handed out in 1985. Last season, Dyson Daniels took home the award.
Alexander-Walker averaged 20.8 points per game over 78 total regular-season games in the 2025-26 season. He shot 45% from the field on nearly double his career average attempts (more on that below), and NAW shot an impressive 40% from beyond the arc.
After his 'MIP' caliber season, Alexander-Walker's career scoring average is 10.6 points per game, so he made a 10+ PPG jump during his first year with the Hawks, relative to his career scoring average, which was less than 10.6.
Nickeil started his career with the New Orleans Pelicans, but then jumped around between a few teams, like the Utah Jazz, and then settled with the Minnesota Timberwolves for a few seasons.
Last year with the T-Wolves, NAW played 82 games, averaged 9.4 points, and even received some 6th Man of the Year votes.
Fast forward to his first season with the Hawks, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker was everything and more for this Atlanta team, and a big reason for his newfound success was his aggresiveness and willingness to take more shots.
Over his seven-year NBA career, NAW has averaged 8.8 field goals attempted per game. This season? He averaged over 15 FGA/game. He's never been a bad shooter, but his shot selection has become more diverse, and Atlanta trusting him to take shots in clutch time is what led to him winning this award.
And he also broke the single-season record for most 3-pointers made in Hawks franchise history this season.
He earns the award while in the midst of a crucial first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks. After two thrilling wins, the Hawks lead 2-1, with a critical Game Four set for Saturday night.