NBA’s Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels reveals big vision plan for future

What’s better than winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award? Winning two MIP’s, of course. Fresh off a deserved recognition for a breakout season, Dyson Daniels is a man with a big, big plan.

Dyson Daniels says his NBA Most Improved Player crown after a breakout season in the world’s best basketball league is just the beginning – and he’s set his sights on going back-to-back.

The 22-year-old Australian Boomer capped a stunning campaign in Atlanta with nominations in two of the NBA’s major awards.

A week after Daniels finished second to Cleveland big man Evan Mobley in the Defensive Player of the Year race, the Ballarat-born beast had no idea he’d been awarded the George Mikan Trophy until it was announced during Thursday’s NBA playoff broadcast.

Mum Brikitta Kool-Daniels was well prepared, though, hiding a bouquet of basketball balloons in the garage, just in case her son won.

Aussie Dyson Daniels capped a stunning season with the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

Daniels seized on the opportunity provided by an off-season move from New Orleans to Atlanta to emerge as a bona fide NBA star, leading the league in steals and increasing his production markedly in almost every major statistical category.

Beaming with pride at the deserved recognition, Daniels was adamant the best was yet to come, setting himself a goal of claiming the MIP award again next season.

“(It) feels great to win this award. I’m proud of how I approached the season and really started to play the way I know I’m capable,” Daniels said.

“I truly believe that I have a lot more left in me and I’m capable of winning this again.”

Daniels secured almost double the number of first-place votes (44) as runner-up LA Clippers big man Ivica Zubac (23) in the MIP race, voted on by a global media panel of 100.

The rangy 201cm wing’s 229 steals was the most by a player in almost three decades and he joined Alan Henderson (1998) as the only other Hawk to win the MIP award.

Dyson Daniels says he’s only scratching the surface after a season of growth yielded rich individual success. Picture: Getty Images/AFP

A Boomers fixture after cutting his teeth at the World Cup and then emerging as a key performer at the Paris Olympics, Daniels won’t be resting on his laurels, his eyes firmly focused on chasing greatness.

“My goals are to be an all star and someone playing for a championship, so while this is a really cool thing, I’m hungry for more,” he said.

Daniels, back in Australia after a record-breaking season where he became the youngest ever NBA player to reach at least 200 steals in an a single campaign, becomes eligible for a potential life-changing contract extension this year that could exceed $300 million over five seasons.

Originally published as NBA’s Most Improved Player Dyson Daniels reveals big vision plan for future