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.’
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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:
First player since Scottie Pippen (1994-95) to record at least 200 steals and at least 50 blocks and just one of seven players to accomplish that in the past 50 seasons.
First guard to lead the league in steals plus blocks since Michael Jordan in 1987-88.
The 22-year-old Daniels, who was acquired by the Hawks from New Orleans in a July trade, is the youngest player to record 200 or more steals in a season since 1973-74, when steals became an official NBA statistic.
Just three players have recorded 200 or more steals since 2000: Allen Iverson, Chris Paul and Daniels.
Collected 79 loose balls in 2024-25, good for No. 2.
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:
2024-25 — Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks
2023-24 — Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers (Voting)
2022-23 — Lauri Markkanen, Utah Jazz
2021-22 — Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies
2020-21 — Julius Randle, New York Knicks
2019-20 — Brandon Ingram, New Orleans Pelicans
2018-19 — Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
2017-18 — Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers
2016-17 — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
2015-16 — C.J. McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers
2014-15 — Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
2013-14 — Goran Dragic, Phoenix Suns
2012-13 — Paul George, Indiana Pacers
2011-12 — Ryan Anderson, Orlando Magic
2010-11 — Kevin Love, Minnesota Timberwolves
2009-10 — Aaron Brooks, Houston Rockets
2008-09 — Danny Granger, Indiana Pacers
2007-08 — Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando Magic
2006-07 — Monta Ellis, Golden State Warriors
2005-06 — Boris Diaw, Phoenix Suns
2004-05 — Bobby Simmons, LA Clippers
2003-04 — Zach Randolph, Portland Trail Blazers
2002-03 — Gilbert Arenas, Golden State Warriors
2001-02 — Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers
2000-01 — Tracy McGrady, Orlando Magic
1999-00 — Jalen Rose, Indiana Pacers
1998-99 — Darrell Armstrong, Orlando Magic
1997-98 — Alan Henderson, Atlanta Hawks
1996-97 — Isaac Austin, Miami Heat
1995-96 — Gheorghe Muresan, Washington Bullets
1994-95 — Dana Barros, Philadelphia 76ers
1993-94 — Don MacLean, Washington Bullets
1992-93 — Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Denver Nuggets
1991-92 — Pervis Ellison, Washington Bullets
1990-91 — Scott Skiles, Orlando Magic
1989-90 — Rony Seikaly, Miami Heat
1988-89 — Kevin Johnson, Phoenix Suns
1987-88 — Kevin Duckworth, Portland Trail Blazers
1986-87 — Dale Ellis, Seattle SuperSonics
1985-86 — Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs
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