NEW YORK, May 7, 2015 – The Chicago Bulls' Jimmy Butler, who earned his first All-Star selection and set career highs in scoring, rebounding and assists, has won the 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award, the NBA announced today. Butler becomes the first player to win the award with the Bulls.
More on Butler's Season
The award is designed to honor an up-and-coming player who has made a dramatic improvement from the previous season or seasons. Butler, 25, received 92 of 129 first-place votes and 535 total points from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States and Canada. Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors (11 first-place votes, 200 points) and Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (12 first-place votes, 189 points) finished second and third, respectively. 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.
Butler, in his fourth NBA season, averaged 20.0 points (15th in the NBA), 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.75 steals (11th in the NBA) in a league-leading 38.7 minutes for a Chicago team that went 50-32 and secured the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The 6-7 guard shot 46.2 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point range. He also ranked seventh in the league in free throw attempts with 463 and converted a career-high 83.4 percent from the foul line in 65 games.
Butler's matched up with Cleveland's LeBron James through two games of the Bulls-Cavs series
NBAE via Getty Images
Last season, Butler averaged the same number of minutes and scored 13.1 points per game on 39.7 percent shooting from the field. His 6.9-point increase from 2013-14 to this season was the highest among all players who appeared in at least 40 games in each season, and his 6.5-percent improvement in field goal accuracy ranked second among players with at least 600 attempts in each season (Golden State's Harrison Barnes improved by 8.3 percent).
As part of its support of the Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award, Kia Motors America (KMA) will donate an all-new and more capable than ever 2016 Kia Sorento LX CUV to a charity of Butler's choice on his behalf. Kia Motors presents a Sorento to the charity of choice of each of five 2014-15 year-end award winners as part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards. After this season, Kia Motors will have donated a total of 38 new vehicles to charitable organizations since its support of the NBA's prestigious honors began in 2008.
The 2014-15 Kia NBA Most Improved Player Award is part of the Kia NBA Performance Awards, a series of oncourt performance awards. The series, in its eighth season, is part of a multiyear marketing partnership between KMA and the NBA, and includes five of the league's most prestigious year-end honors: Kia Most Valuable Player, Kia Defensive Player of the Year, Kia Sixth Man Award, Kia Most Improved Player and Kia Rookie of the Year. The series also includes the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Rookies of the Month and the Kia NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Month during the regular season. Kia Motors is the Official Automotive Partner of the NBA, and the Kia Optima is the league's Official Vehicle. For more information, please visit www.kia.com/NBA.
>> More On The Bulls-Cavaliers Series
| PLAYER | 1ST PLACE (5 pts) | 2ND PLACE (3 pts) | 3RD PLACE (1 pt) | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Butler (Chicago) | 92 | 23 | 6 | 535 |
| Draymond Green (Golden State) | 11 | 43 | 16 | 200 |
| Rudy Gobert (Utah) | 12 | 32 | 33 | 189 |
| Hassan Whiteside (Miami) | 5 | 12 | 27 | 88 |
| Klay Thompson (Golden State) | 2 | 8 | 8 | 42 |
| Anthony Davis (New Orleans) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milw) | 1 | 3 | 8 | 22 |
| Donatas Motiejunas (Houston) | -- | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| Dennis Schröder (Atlanta) | -- | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| DeMarre Carroll (Atlanta) | 1 | -- | -- | 5 |
| Tyler Zeller (Boston) | 1 | -- | -- | 5 |
| DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento) | -- | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Khris Middleton (Milwaukee) | -- | -- | 4 | 4 |
| Kyrie Irving (Cleveland) | -- | -- | 3 | 3 |
| Victor Oladipo (Orlando) | -- | 1 | -- | 3 |
| DeAndre Jordan (L.A. Clippers) | -- | 1 | -- | 3 |
| Jae Crowder (Boston) | -- | 1 | -- | 3 |
| Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Detroit) | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
| Nikola Vucevic (Orlando) | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
| Robert Covington (Philadelphia) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Tyreke Evans (New Orleans) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Derrick Favors (Utah) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Marc Gasol (Memphis) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Tobias Harris (Orlando) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Gordon Hayward (Utah) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| George Hill (Indiana) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Enes Kanter (Oklahoma City) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Brandon Knight (Phoenix) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
| Meyers Leonard (Portland) | -- | -- | 1 | 1 |
See below for the all-time list
| SEASON | PLAYER |
|---|---|
| 1985-86 | Alvin Robertson, San Antonio |
| 1986-87 | Dale Ellis, Seattle |
| 1987-88 | Kevin Duckworth, Portland |
| 1988-89 | Kevin Johnson, Phoenix |
| 1989-90 | Rony Seikaly, Miami |
| 1990-91 | Scott Skiles, Orlando |
| 1991-92 | Pervis Ellison, Washington |
| 1992-93 | Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Denver |
| 1993-94 | Don MacLean, Washington |
| 1994-95 | Dana Barros, Philadelphia |
| 1995-96 | Gheorghe Muresan, Washington |
| 1996-97 | Isaac Austin, Miami |
| 1997-98 | Alan Henderson, Atlanta |
| 1998-99 | Darrell Armstrong, Orlando |
| 1999-00 | Jalen Rose, Indiana |
| 2000-01 | Tracy McGrady, Orlando |
| 2001-02 | Jermaine O'Neal, Indiana |
| 2002-03 | Gilbert Arenas, Golden State |
| 2003-04 | Zach Randolph, Portland |
| 2004-05 | Bobby Simmons, L.A. Clippers |
| 2005-06 | Boris Diaw, Phoenix |
| 2006-07 | Monta Ellis, Golden State |
| 2007-08 | Hedo Turkoglu, Orlando |
| 2008-09 | Danny Granger, Indiana |
| 2009-10 | Aaron Brooks, Houston |
| 2010-11 | Kevin Love, Minnesota |
| 2011-12 | Ryan Anderson, Orlando |
| 2012-13 | Paul George, Indiana |
| 2013-14 | Goran Dragic, Phoenix |
| 2014-15 | Jimmy Butler, Chicago |