The Atlanta Hawks announced Friday that guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the team’s 2025-26 Sekou Smith Award winner, an annual honor given to the player who best represents himself and the franchise with professionalism and integrity in his interactions with the media.
Alexander-Walker was selected by a local media panel, and the Hawks said he will be recognized during a pregame presentation that includes members of Smith’s family. For a team-issued honor, this one carries unusual weight in Atlanta because it is tied directly to one of the most respected basketball journalists in franchise history.
Why the Sekou Smith Award matters in Atlanta
This is not just a routine in-house recognition. The award is named for Sekou Smith, the longtime Hawks beat writer and NBA reporter whose legacy still resonates around the organization and across the league.
In the team’s announcement, the Hawks noted they named the media workroom at State Farm Arena after Smith in 2021 and also launched an annual Hawks-NBA Summer League Internship in his name that same year. That history gives the award a deeper meaning than a standard end-of-season media-relations note.
That context is what gives the award real weight. The Sekou Smith name means something in Atlanta, so this is more than a routine team honor handed out before tipoff. It reflects the way Alexander-Walker has carried himself in a season when he quickly became one of the Hawks’ most visible and dependable voices.
Why Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a natural choice
The Hawks made clear that Alexander-Walker earned the honor because of the way he has handled himself with reporters throughout the season.
“Nickeil embodies everything the Sekou Smith Award represents,” Hawks Vice President of Basketball Communications Jon Steinberg said in the team’s release. “His professionalism, honesty and willingness to answer every question thoughtfully have set the standard.”
That quote gives the story its real center. This is less about a ceremonial mention and more about how quickly Alexander-Walker has established credibility in a new organization. He is in his first season with Atlanta, but the Hawks are effectively saying he already represents the standard they want associated with the franchise.
It is a notable nod for a player in his first season with the team. Alexander-Walker has become more than a rotation piece in Atlanta; he has emerged as one of the steady, credible faces of the group, which makes this recognition feel earned rather than ceremonial.
The honor comes during a breakout first season with the Hawks
The timing also gives the story a little more substance.
Alexander-Walker is not a fringe player receiving a quiet internal nod. He has become one of Atlanta’s most important guards this season, which makes him one of the team’s most visible players with both fans and media. That visibility matters in an award centered on professionalism and accountability.
That does not mean the honor is performance-based, but it does explain why it matters now. Alexander-Walker is finishing his first Atlanta season as a significant part of the Hawks’ rotation, so this recognition doubles as a reflection of how fully he has settled into the franchise. This season he’s averaging a career high 20.9 points per game, after scoring 9.4 points per game last season with the Timberwolves.
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