1 day Ago By USA TODAY Sports
The "Great Barrier Thief" has swiped the NBA’s 2024-25 Most Improved Player award. Atlanta Hawks guard and Australia native Dyson Daniels was named the league's Most Improved Player during Wednesday's "Inside the NBA" broadcast on TNT. Daniels got 44 first-place votes out of 100 ballots and a total of 332 points.
Ivica Zubac of the Los Angeles Clippers finished second with 23 first-place votes and 186 total points. Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons finished third with 15 first-place votes and 122 total points. Daniels averaged a career high in points (14.
1), rebounds (5.9), assists (4.4), steals (3.
0), field goal percentage (49.3%) and 3-point percentage (34%) in 76 starts this season. He had just 27 starts in the first two years of his career in New Orleans.
Daniels nearly tripled his points per game average from 5.8 in the 2023-24 season while playing for the Pelicans to 14.1 points in the 2024-25 season, his first year in Atlanta.
"This is my third year in the league, with my first two being in New Orleans. I felt like I kind of went in there and wasn't myself. I feel like I took a backseat role," said Daniels, who virtually joined the TNT broadcast from Australia, where it's early in the morning.
"I came into this third year wanting to really put my foot down and show what I can do. I think it's just a small step in the right direction this year and I feel like I got a lot more in me." NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Stephon Castle wins back-to-back awards for San Antonio Spurs Daniels, 22, led the NBA in steals per game (3), total deflections (443) and in the combo category of steals plus blocks plus charges drawn (297).
He's the first player to average 3.0 steals since Alvi Robertson in 1990-91. Daniels is only the second Hawks player to win the Most Improved Player honor.
Alan Henderson was the first in 1998. Among Daniels' achievements: Who has won NBA's Most Improved Player award? Here's every player that has won the Most Improved Player honor since the first award was given during the 1985-86 NBA season: The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast . Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Most Improved Player NBA 2025: Hawks' Dyson Daniels wins award.
