Golden State Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas has been named the NBA’s Most Improved Player for 2002-03, the league announced today. Additionally, Warriors forward Troy Murphy finished third in the balloting for the award, which was voted upon by members of the league’s media. At the press conference: (Audio) | (Photo Gallery) | (Transcript)

NBA TV on Arenas: 56k | 300k Complete news conference: Play

Arenas becomes the first Golden State player to be named the NBA’s Most Improved Player since the award’s inception in 1985-86. He received 41 first place votes and tallied 288 total points to finish ahead of Matt Harpring of Utah. Murphy received 18 first place votes and 144 total points, while Warriors guard Earl Boykins (2) and forward Antawn Jamison (1) also received votes.

2002-03 Highlights 56k | 300k

"This is a great accomplishment for Gilbert. He's worked extremely hard in his brief professional career," said General Manager Garry St. Jean. "His development had a huge impact on our team this season and, personally, I think the sky is the limit for him."

During his second NBA season, Arenas averaged 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.51 steals in 35.0 minutes over 82 games (all starts), improving on a rookie campaign in which he averaged 10.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.47 steals in 24.6 minutes over 47 games (30 starts). His scoring increase of +7.4 points per game over 2001-02 was the second highest in the NBA in 2002-03.

"This is a much-deserved honor for Gilbert," said Warriors Head Coach Eric Musselman. "He was determined from the outset of training camp this season to make an impact on our team and the league and he certainly accomplished those goals. I'm also glad that Troy's hard work and improvement did not go unnoticed by the voting panel. Both of these young men were very deserving."

The 21-year-old point guard finished the season ranked 11th in steals, 21st in free throws made (370), T24th in steals, 33rd in scoring, T33rd in three-point field goals made (109) and T35th in field goals made (509). His scoring average was also fifth among the league’s point guards. Additionally, the Los Angeles, CA, native was one of only eight players in the NBA who averaged at least 18.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists.

Murphy averaged 11.7 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 31.8 minutes over 79 games (all starts) in 2002-03, after averaging 5.9 points and 3.9 rebounds in 17.7 minutes over 82 games (four starts) during his rookie campaign. The second-year forward led the NBA in rebounding improvement at +5.8 rebounds per game and was seventh in scoring improvement at +6.3 points per game. He was the only player in the NBA who improved his scoring and rebounding averages by at least +5.0 per game over 2001-02. Murphy was one of only five players in the NBA to average a point/rebound double-double during the 2002-03 season, while ranking ninth in the league with 37 double-doubles.

2002-03 NBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD VOTING RESULTS

Player, Team	1st	2nd	3rd	Pts
Gilbert Arenas, Golden State	41	24	11	288
Matt Harpring, Utah	29	24	17	234
Troy Murphy, Golden State	18	13	15	144
Tony Parker, San Antonio	14	19	16	143
Ricky Davis, Cleveland	2	10	3	43
Chauncey Billups, Detroit	3	6	9	42
Jason Williams, Memphis	3	6	7	40
Richard Jefferson, New Jersey	2	2	7	23
Troy Hudson, Minnesota	1	2	3	14
Corey Maggette, LA Clippers	0	2	6	12
Bobby Jackson, Sacramento	0	3	2	11
Michael Redd, Milwaukee	1	1	1	9
Ron Artest, Indiana	1	0	2	7
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas	1	0	0	5
Andrei Kirilenko, Utah	1	0	0	5
Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana	1	0	0	5
Stephon Marbury, Phoenix	0	1	2	5
Stephen Jackson, San Antonio	0	0	4	4
Tracy McGrady, Orlando	0	1	1	4
Brad Miller, Indiana	0	1	1	4
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota	0	1	0	3
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Cleveland	0	1	0	3
Brent Barry, Seattle	0	1	0	3
Eric Snow, Philadelphia	0	0	3	3
Earl Boykins, Golden State	0	0	2	2
Steve Nash, Dallas	0	0	1	1
Antawn Jamison, Golden State	0	0	1	1
Radoslav Nesterovic, Minnesota	0	0	1	1
Anfernee Hardaway, Phoenix	0	0	1	1
Stromile Swift, Memphis	0	0	1	1
Dion Glover, Atlanta	0	0	1	1

ALL-TIME NBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD WINNERS

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