The Canadian guard for the Atlanta Hawks was named the NBA’s 2026 Most Improved Player, the league announced on Friday.
Alexander-Walker, 27, joined the Hawks by way of a sign-and-trade agreement with the Minnesota Timberwolves last summer and has since blossomed into one of the league’s premier perimeter players.
The Toronto native put up career-highs across the board in 2025-26 with 20.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 33.4 minutes through 78 regular-season appearances. His jump from 9.4 points per game with the Wolves in 2024-25 to over 20 points per game was the highest scoring increase of any player in the NBA this season. Alexander-Walker also shot a career-best 39.9 per cent from beyond the arc.
He beat out forwards Deni Avdija (Portland Trail Blazers) and Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons), who were also finalists for Most Improved Player.
Alexander-Walker is the second Canadian to take home some hardware this NBA award season, joining Hamilton, Ont. native and MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named Clutch Player of the Year on Tuesday.