Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey edges Chicago’s Coby White, wins NBA’s Most Improved Player award

Tyrese Maxey was sixth in the Most Improved Player voting two years ago, a tribute to the jump he made between his first and second seasons in the NBA. Maxey’s scoring rose for the third consecutive year, and he finished the regular season averaging 25.9 points, 6.2 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game — all career bests. “Somebody like myself, who prides myself on putting in a lot of work and outworking people and finding ways to get 1% better every single time I step in the gym, it feels good for that to come to light, honestly.” Maxey edged Chicago’s Coby White in the voting. The other finalists from a year ago — Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York’s Jalen Brunson — were MVP candidates this season, and both got MIP votes this year as well. The rest of the voting: Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams was fourth, Brunson was fifth, Washington’s Deni Avdija sixth, Brooklyn’s Cam Thomas seventh, Orlando’s Jalen Suggs eighth, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton ninth, Phoenix’s Grayson Allen and Miami’s Duncan Robinson tied for 10th, San Antonio’s Devin Vassell and Gilgeous-Alexander tied for 12th, and Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith was 14th.