Indiana Pacers swingman Paul George named NBA's most improved player Paul George of the Indiana Pacers in action against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals. He has been named gthe NBA's most improved player. Picture: Andy Lyons Source: AFP PAUL George, who sparked the Indiana Pacers into the NBA playoffs with the best season of his career, has been named the NBA's Most Improved Player. The 22-year-old swingman averaged a team-best 17.4 points, grabbed 7.6 rebounds, passed out 4.7 assists and blocked 1.8 shots a game - all career highs for the third-year standout as the Pacers won the Central division title. Indiana and Atlanta are playing each other in the opening round of the NBA playoffs. George was the only player in the NBA with at least 140 steals and 50 blocked shots, having 143 steals and 51 blocks. He had 19 games with three steals and 29 appearances with at least one steal and one block. In voting on the award by a media panel, George received 311 of a possible 1080 points, including 52 first-place ballots. Greivis Vasquez of New Orleans was second with 146 points, five more than Larry Sanders of Milwaukee. George became the fourth Pacer player to receive the award, joining Jalen Rose in 2000, Jermaine O'Neal in 2002 and Danny Granger in 2009. Meanwhile, Mike Dunlap has been fired as coach of the Charlotte Bobcats after turning around the NBA club following the worst season in league history. Dunlap, whose 33 years in coaching include three years with Adelaide 36ers, was named coach of the Bobcats last June, replacing Paul Silas after Charlotte went 7-59, the worst winning percentage in NBA history. Under Dunlap this past season - a full season rather than one shortened by an owner-player money dispute - the Bobcats went 21-61 and edged Orlando by one game to avoid the worst record in the NBA this season. That was not enough, however, for Dunlap to keep his job, Bobcats president of basketball operations Rod Higgins said after a meeting with team general manager Rich Cho. "Rich Cho and I conducted our season-ending review and met with coach Dunlap to reflect on this season," Higgins said on Tuesday. As an organisation, it was decided that we needed to make a change with the head coach position. The search for a new coach has already started for the Bobcats, who are owned by retired NBA legend Michael Jordan. The team was founded in 2004 and has already gone through five coaches with its only playoff appearance in 2010. Dunlap's only prior NBA experience was in 2006-2008 as an assistant coach to George Karl with the Denver Nuggets. Dunlap spent most of his career with US college teams but from 1994 until 1997 he guided the NBL's Adelaide 36ers to a 59-33 record and three NBL final four trips, including the 1995 grand final.