The National Basketball Association awards are being handed out at this time, with Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario the favourite to win his second consecutive most valuable player award. However, on Friday, Shai’s first cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker made NBA headlines as the Atlanta Hawks shooting guard from Toronto won the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award.
Alexander-Walker had a breakout season in every sense of the term, and definitely deserved two win the award from a statistical standpoint. With the Hawks this season, he averaged 20.8 points per game, 3.7 assists per game, 3.4 rebounds per game, and 1.3 steals per game (all career-highs). Alexander-Walker also had a field goal percentage of .459, three point percentage of .399, and free throw percentage of .902. The three aforementioned percentage statistics were also career-highs.
It also helped Alexander-Walker’s statistics that he was a starter in Atlanta as he began 71 games for the Hawks. Last season in Minnesota, Alexander-Walker only started 10 games. He averaged 9.4 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, and 2.7 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of .438, three point percentage of .381, and free throw percentage of .780.
Since the regular season completed, Alexander-Walker is averaging 13.3 postseason points. The Hawks have a two games to one lead over the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
