New York Knicks' Julius Randle named NBA's Most Improved Player for 2020/21 season
Coverage of the NBA playoffs continues on Thursday night as the Miami Heat host the Milwaukee Bucks 2-0 down in the series and in desperate need of a win. Watch Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo battle it out once again, live from 12.30pm on Sky Sports Main Event & Arena
Wednesday 26 May 2021 08:40, UK
New York Knicks forward Julius Randle was announced as the NBA's Most Improved Player for 2020-21 on Tuesday night.
Randle was presented with the award by his young son, Kyden, in a touching surprise arranged by the NBA on TNT broadcast crew.
This followed on from the first award announcement on Monday, when Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson was presented with the Sixth Man of the Year award by his teammate - and fellow finalist for the honour - Joe Ingles.
Just to add to the heart-warming nature of proceedings, the two winners - who had previously played together for the Los Angeles Lakers - took to Twitter to congratulate each other on their individual accolades.
Randle received 98 of the 100 first-place votes for the award from a panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, according to the NBA. Accumulating 493 points, he was only left off one ballot.
His résumé speaks for itself. In his seventh season and on his third team, Randle set or tied career highs in almost every major statistical category during what is his second year with the Knicks.
He finished the regular season averaging 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 0.9 steals in 71 games, while also leading the Knicks to the postseason for the first time in eight years - via the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Randle also raised his 3-point shooting percentage a remarkable rate: from 28 per cent last season to 41 per cent this time round, despite also increasing his volume by two attempts from deep per game.
The forward also led the league with 37.6 minutes per game, had 41 double-doubles, six triple-doubles and made his first All-Star team to cap off a truly spectacular season.
The 26-year-old Randle spent his first four seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and his next two with the New Orleans Pelicans showing flashes of potential, without ever really threatening to make the kind of significant improvement he now has done over the past six months.
Jerami Grant of the Detroit Pistons received the other two first-place votes and finished in a distant second with 140. Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. (138) was third.
Randle and the Knicks must now turn their attention to levelling the first-round series against Atlanta, after Trae Young's last-second floater gave the Hawks a dramatic 107-105 victory at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
Tom Thibodeau's team will once again host the Hawks at MSG on Wednesday night before heading to Atlanta for two consecutive games there. The victor of the series will face the winner of the series between the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards, with Philly currently holding a 1-0 lead.
