The National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) award given since the 1985–86 NBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.

Since its inception, the award has been given to 25 different players. The most recent award winner was Kevin Love

Kevin Love

Kevin Love, born in Des Moines, Iowa, is a former NASCAR driver. He ran five races in the 2004 Craftsman Truck Series season, all for Fiddleback Racing....

. None of the award winners have won an NBA Championship until 2011 when Darrell Armstrong

Darrell Armstrong

Darrell Eugene Armstrong is a former American professional basketball player, who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association...

 won the title as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks. Hedo Türkoğlu, Rony Seikaly

Rony Seikaly

Ronald Fred "Rony" Seikaly is a retired Lebanese-born American professional basketball player.-Early life:Seikaly was born in Beirut, Lebanon. At the age of 9, Rony moved from Beirut where he'd been attending elementary school at the Athenee de Beirut to Greece, where he spent the rest of his youth...

, Gheorghe Mureşan

Gheorghe Muresan

Gheorghe Dumitru Mureşan, , also known as Ghiţă or George, is a retired Romanian professional basketball player. At 7 ft 7 in , he is one of the tallest players in NBA history, along with Sudanese player Manute Bol, who was also 7 ft 7 in. Both Mureşan's parents are of average size, and,...

 and Boris Diaw

Boris Diaw

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod, better known as Boris Diaw , is a French professional basketball player for JSA Bordeaux in France. He has also played in the National Basketball Association for the Atlanta Hawks, Phoenix Suns, and Charlotte Bobcats...

 are the only award winners not born in the United States; all but Seikaly were also trained completely outside the U.S. (Seikaly played college basketball at Syracuse

Syracuse Orange men's basketball

The Syracuse Orange men's basketball program is the intercollegiate men's basketball team representing Syracuse University. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference...

).

Only Alvin Robertson

Alvin Robertson

Alvin Cyrrale Robertson is a retired American basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association from 1984 to 1993, and for one final season in 1995–96.-Career:...

, Dana Barros

Dana Barros

Dana Bruce Barros is a retired American professional basketball player from the NBA. Before the NBA he played at Boston College, finishing as one of the school's all-time leading scorers....

, Tracy McGrady

Tracy McGrady

Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr., is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Detroit Pistons.Entering the league after graduating from high school, McGrady eventually became a seven-time All-Star. He led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004. He has also played for the Toronto...

, Jermaine O'Neal

Jermaine O'Neal

Jermaine Lee O'Neal is an American professional basketball player for the Boston Celtics. The 6 ft 11 in , 255 lb forward-center had a successful high school career and declared his eligibility for the 1996 NBA Draft straight out of high school...

, Danny Granger

Danny Granger

Danny Granger, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Indiana Pacers of the NBA. He is mainly a small forward, though he does log time at the power forward position. He is also able to initiate the team's offense and so is regarded as one who can play the point forward position...

 and Kevin Love won the award and selected as an NBA All-Star in the same season; Dale Ellis

Dale Ellis

Dale Ellis is a retired American professional basketball player, who played in the National Basketball Association....

, Kevin Duckworth

Kevin Duckworth

Kevin Jerome Duckworth was an American professional basketball player at center in the National Basketball Association. A native of Illinois, he played college basketball at Eastern Illinois University before being drafted in 1986 in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs...

, Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson

Kevin Maurice Johnson is the current mayor of Sacramento, California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns...

, Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Jay Arenas, Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association . He plays as a point guard and shooting guard....

 and Zach Randolph

Zach Randolph

Zachary Randolph , nicknamed Z-Bo, is an American professional basketball player currently with the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA...

 were the other winners who were later selected to play in the All-Stars Game.

Winners

*	Denotes player who is still active in the NBA

Season	Player	Position	Nationality	Team
		Guard		San Antonio Spurs San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio, Texas. They are part of the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association ....
		Guard/Forward		Seattle SuperSonics Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle, Washington that played in the Pacific and Northwest Divisions of the National Basketball Association from 1967 until 2008. Following the 2007–08 season, the team relocated to Oklahoma City, and now plays as...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Portland Trail Blazers Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
		Guard		Phoenix Suns Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Miami Heat Miami Heat The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
		Guard		Orlando Magic Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well... /Forward		Washington Bullets Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
		Guard		Denver Nuggets Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
		Forward		Washington Bullets Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
		Guard		Philadelphia 76ers Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Washington Bullets Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are a professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C., previously known as Washington Bullets. They play in the National Basketball Association .-Early years:...
		Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Miami Heat Miami Heat The Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
		Forward		Atlanta Hawks Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
		Guard		Orlando Magic Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
		Guard/Forward		Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
	*	Guard/Forward		Orlando Magic Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
	*	Forward/Center Center (basketball) The center, colloquially known as the five or the post, is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. The center is normally the tallest player on the team, and often has a great deal of strength and body mass as well...		Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
	*	Guard		Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
	*	Forward		Portland Trail Blazers Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
		Guard/Forward		Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
	*	Forward		Phoenix Suns Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are a professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association and the only team in their division not to be based in California. Their home arena since 1992 has been the US...
	*	Guard		Golden State Warriors Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
	*	Forward		Orlando Magic Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic is a professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association and are currently coached by Stan Van Gundy...
	*	Forward		Indiana Pacers Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...
	*	Guard		Houston Rockets Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
	*	Forward		Minnesota Timberwolves Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . Founded in 1989, the team is currently owned by Glen Taylor...