Quin Snyder's belief in Nickeil Alexander-Walker's immense potential fueled his impactful rise. Discover the coach's foresight behind this season's surprise star.
The Atlanta Hawks' decision to bring in Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been one of the best in the NBA this season. Alexander-Walker is firmly in the running for Most Improved Player and is posting career highs in almost all major stat categories.
Per NBA.com's Jeff Zillgit, Nickeil Alexander Walker recalls a time when Hawks' head coach Quin Snyder envisioned 'NAW' being such an impactful player:
“He saw a ceiling higher for myself than I did,” Alexander-Walker told NBA.com in a phone interview. “And that was really cool for me because I felt like in my career I’ve never had that before.”
The roots between Quin Snyder and Alexander-Walker run deep, as Alexander-Walker spent some time with the Utah Jazz in 2022, when Snyder was the head coach.
Alexander-Walker has been either the best or second-best player on the Hawks this season, and has propelled Atlanta to a stellar 43-33 record, which fans likely didn't even envision at the start of the season.
“He [Snyder] sees me as a person who can do more than what I was doing,” Alexander-Walker said. “And that’s something that was very important to me: Could they see the potential through what I was only able to show them through my role?”
Another underrated aspect of Alexander-Walker's game is his ability to play every night. With the Hawks in his first season, he has played in 73 games (with the ability to make that 79) and averaged 20.4 points on 45% field-goal shooting, 39% on 3-point attempts, and 90% on free throws.
Those are stellar improvements when you consider he averaged just 9.4 points per game last season in a full-82 game workload.
The Hawks look to continue their Eastern Conference dominance in the back half of the 2026 season with a tough six-game stretch to end the season.
Atlanta will take on the Orlando Magic on Wednesday in perhaps the biggest game of the season. After that, the Hawks have the Nets, Cavaliers twice, Knicks, and Heat.