Dyson Daniels

About

Dyson James Daniels (born 17 March 2003) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed “the Great Barrier Thief” for his defensive and stealing abilities, he was selected eighth overall by the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2022 NBA draft. In 2025, Daniels became the first Australian to win the NBA Most Improved Player award.

Daniels was born on March 17, 2003, in Bendigo, Victoria, and started playing basketball at age seven. He attended Bendigo South East College.
Daniels signed with the Bendigo Braves, his father’s former team, of the NBL1 for the 2019 season. Later that year, Daniels joined the NBA Global Academy, a training center at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. He helped Victoria win a silver medal at the 2021 Australian Under-20 Championships. Along with basketball, Daniels was a talented Australian rules footballer in his younger years and represented his home state of Victoria at several national football championships before giving up the sport to focus solely on basketball.