Hawks Forward Jalen Johnson Earns Top Honor in NBA's Anonymous Player Poll

Johnson had a fantastic season for the Hawks and has emerged as one of the top young stars in the NBA

Apr 30, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) shoots against the New York Knicks in the third quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

While it did not end the way that he wanted, this was the breakout season for Jalen Johnson in the NBA and one that Atlanta Hawks fans had been waiting to see. Johnson became the face of the franchise after Atlanta dealt Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, earning his first bid to the NBA All-Star Game, and he led the Hawks to a 20-6 record after the All-Star break, which got them to the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, where they would lose to the New York Knicks in six games.

Johnson captured the attention of NBA fans this season, but also of the players in the league. The Athletic does an anonymous player poll at the end of every season and when it came to voting for the most underrated player in the league, Johnson tied Celtics guard Derrick White with 4% of the vote, just edging out Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Payton Pritchard, and Austin Reaves, who all finished with 3.3%. Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with 2.6% of the vote.

The writers at The Athletic had this to say about Johnson:

"Johnson was one of the league’s breakout players this season, leading the Atlanta Hawks to a No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference. He avoided major injuries to play in 72 games, and his production improved, averaging career-bests of 22.5 points, 10.3 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game, with a career-high 13 triple-doubles. Notably, he did not receive a single “Underrated” vote last season, which may be explained by playing in only 36 games that year due to injuries.

It will be interesting to see if his career arc can approximate the trajectory of Cunningham’s, who was the top “Underrated” vote-getter last season before leading the Pistons to the best record in the East and potentially in the top five for MVP voting."

Other notable results for the Hawks in this poll included head coach Quin Snyder getting 2.1% of the vote for most impressive coach and Dyson Daniels got 2% of the vote for best defensive player.

Johnson is likely to make an All-NBA team when they were announced and he made a huge leap to get this team into the playoffs and out of the play-in tournament for the first time in five years.

Now the leap for him is going to be going from underrated to one of the most dominant players in the game. Johnson was one of the top passers in the league this year and was one of the best scorers in transition. If he can develop a more consistent three-point shot and scoring in the halfcourt and in iso situations, he has MVP level potential.