Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum was named the winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player award by a large margin on Friday. McCollum received 559 votes, including 101 first-place votes, after a season where he more than tripled his scoring average to 20.8 points per game.
Hawks small forward Kent Bazemore finished tied for 13th in the voting with four points, including one second- and one third-place vote. Bazemore jumped into a starting role with the Hawks this season.
The Hornets’ Kemba Walker was second with 166 points (seven first-place votes and the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was third with 99 points (four first-place votes).
Voting was done by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote.
As a matter of newspaper policy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution does not participate in the voting process.
McCollum averaged 6.8 points with the Trail Blazers last season.
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