WARRIORS GUARD GILBERT ARENAS NAMED NBA'S MOST IMPROVED PLAYER

Teammate Troy Murphy Finishes Third In Balloting; Four Warriors Receive Votes

OAKLAND, CA - 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.

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 of 118 first place votes and tallied 288 total points to finish ahead of Matt Harpring. Murphy received 18 first place votes and 144 total points, while Warriors guard Earl Boykins (2) and forward Antawn Jamison (1) also received votes.

"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. 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.


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