The second person in team history! Daniels was named the Most Improved Player of the Year and has become the league's new steal king

On May 1, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced that Hawks player Daniels was selected as the most improved player of the year. He defeated the Pistons' Cunningham and the Clippers' Zubac to receive the award. Daniels is only the second player in Hawks history to win the award, having Alan Henderson named the most improved player in 1997-98.

Daniels received 44 first-place votes for a total of 332 points, Zubac 186 and Cunningham 122.His debut season in Atlanta was a very different from his previous two NBA seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans. His stats have improved dramatically, with several career highs: 14.1 points per game (more than double last season's 5.8), 5.9 rebounds per game, 4.4 assists per game, 3.0 steals per game, and 49.3 percent shooting from the field from 43.5 percent in the previous two seasons to 49.3 percent this season. The Hawks established him as a full-time starter, something he never had with the Pelicans.

The other two finalists have improved no less. Cunningham jumped from 22.7 points per game to 26.1 points, shot from 44.9 percent to 46.9 percent, increased his rebounds from 4.3 to 6.1 per game, and increased his assists per game from 7.5 to 9.1. He led the Pistons to a playoff finish from a 14-68 record that finished at the bottom of the league last season to a 44-38 record this season.

Zubac had the best performance of his nine-year career, averaging 16.8 points, 12.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game. He played in 80 games, a career-high game, averaging nearly 33 minutes per game and became one of the league's top defensive players. Zubac, who teamed up with Harden, was nicknamed "Zunier" by fans. Last season, Zubac averaged 11.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.

The NBA has had the Most Improved Player award since the 1985-86 season, and no player in history has ever won the Most Improved Player award twice. The NBA's announcement of the Most Improved Player award is named after George McCann in honor of the first superstar in NBA history who led the Lakers to five championships in six years.

Attached are the winners of the most improved player in the last 10 years——

2015-16: McCollum (Trail Blazers)

2016-17: Brother Alphabet (Bucks)

2017-18: Oladipo (Pacers)

2018-19: Siakam (Raptors)

2019-20: Ingram (Pelicans)

2020-21: Randle (Knicks)

2021-22: Morant (Grizzlies)

2022-23: Markkanen (Jazz)

2023-24: Maxey (76ers)

2024-25: Daniels (Hawks)