NBA AWARDS Arenas selected as most improved

He's still motivated by a draft snub two years ago.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Golden State Warriors guard Gilbert Arenas won the NBA's Most Improved Player award Thursday -- not that he thought there was much to improve.
"I didn't think I got a whole lot better this year," said Arenas, who flashed his usual broad grin while accepting the award from Chris Mullin at the team's training complex. "I just got more playing time and more experience. I got a chill when they told me I'd won it. It's an honor.
"I've always had confidence that I'll be up there with the Jason Kidds and Gary Paytons. I just need to keep working hard."
Arenas, the Warriors' high-scoring point guard, claimed a spot among the league's fastest, most exciting players in just his second pro season. He got 41 of 118 first-place votes, finishing with 288 points.
Runner-up
Utah's Matt Harpring, who emerged as a dependable scorer in his first season with the Jazz, was second with 234 points. Troy Murphy, Arenas' teammate and a fellow member of the Warriors' spectacular 2001 draft class, finished third with 144.
San Antonio's Tony Parker was fourth with 143, while 14 players received at least one first-place vote from a panel of writers and broadcasters.
Arenas said the award was another example of the danger in taking him lightly.
He wasn't heavily recruited out of high school in Los Angeles, but he became a starter at Arizona. On what he claims was a whim, Arenas left school after his sophomore year, but he went undrafted in the first round -- which disappointed and angered him.
"As long as I'm in this league, I'll still be thinking about the 30 guys that got drafted ahead of me," Arenas said. "You just make it into a motivation. That's one of the reasons I work so hard."
The Warriors chose him with the first pick of the second round, and he spent the first two months of his rookie season on the bench or the injured list before earning the confidence of his coaches.
Proved he could start
Arenas came on strong late last season, starting Golden State's final 27 games.
He started all 82 games this season under first-year coach Eric Musselman, who placed extraordinary responsibility in his hands.
Arenas responded with career bests of 18.3 points, 6.3 assists and 4.7 rebounds as Golden State made the NBA's biggest single-season improvement in its win total, from 21 to 38.