Nickeil Alexander-Walker was named this season’s Most Improved Player on Friday, marking the second straight Atlanta Hawks player to win the award.

Alexander-Walker averaged a career-high 20.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.4 rebounds to go with 1.3 steals. He also averaged career highs in blocks, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage.

The 6-foot-5 guard increased his scoring by 11.4 points after averaging 9.4 points coming off the bench for the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2024-25 season. That is the third-highest increase from one season to the next over the past 25 years.

“It really validates my feelings,” said the Hawks guard, who looked like he was holding back tears at times while talking to reporters on Friday. “Sometimes I think everyone’s been through that where they feel something and other people might not, and they might not see it yet. And it’s kind of like that told you moment to not make you feel crazy. And a lot of times this game has made me feel delusional and just the beliefs that I had … honestly, it [hasn’t] set in. I go from moments of where I’m ready to break down in tears and then I’m just ready to just scream and just be happy.”

Alexander-Walker now has some hardware to add to a family that includes cousin Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City’s MVP and Finals MVP.

“It’s good to make the family proud,” Alexander-Walker said. “When you’re Shai’s cousin, a lot of times you get referred to as Shai’s cousin. And so now being recognized for being Nickeil Alexander-Walker feels great. I talk to Shai all the time… [he’s] my brother and my twin, and I couldn’t be any more proud for anyone’s success. So to know that he’s in my corner and rooting for me the same way… all of those things really resonate.”

Alexander-Walker follows teammate Dyson Daniels, who won the award last season. This is the first time in the award’s history that two straight winners have come from the same team.

In his seventh season, Alexander-Walker thrived with the Hawks. The guard told ESPN early in the season that he had multiple suitors in free agency but chose the Hawks after former Atlanta point guard Trae Young recruited him.

When Young suffered a knee injury early in the season and was then traded to Washington, Alexander-Walker helped the Hawks remain a playoff team. He scored in double figures in 76 games and made 251 3-pointers in 2025-26, a single-season franchise record and fourth most in the league this season.

“I think it was the opportunity that I was given and the mindset of just I have to make the most of it,” Alexander-Walker said. “Through different times of my career, when you get something like this, you got to grab it by the horns and just take it for the ride and just wherever it goes, I was hanging on for dear life, still am and still will be.”