Sixers center Joel Embiid has been named the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week for the final week of the 2021/22 regular season (April 4-10), while Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has won the award in the West, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Embiid, putting a stamp on an MVP-caliber season, averaged 38.7 PPG, 14.3 RPG, and 2.7 APG on .609/.444/.757 shooting in three games (37.7 MPG) before resting in Philadelphia’s regular season finale on Sunday. The Sixers had a 3-1 week as Embiid earned his second Player of the Week award of the season.
Doncic, meanwhile, put up 30.3 PPG, 10.0 APG, and 9.0 RPG as the Mavs won their final three games of the season by an average margin of 26 points. It was his third Player of the Week award this season. Doncic’s season ended on a sour note though, as he left Sunday’s finale early due to a strained left calf. He’ll undergo an MRI today to determine the severity of the injury.
Embiid beat out fellow nominees Pascal Siakam, Kevin Durant, and Obi Toppin in the East. The other Western nominees were Rudy Gobert and Klay Thompson (Twitter link).
Can you report on who has the most player of the week/month awards?
Predictions for MVP as well based off this?
This won’t make it into a full post, but since I’ve kept track of it throughout the year, here ya go:
Players of the Week:
April 11: Luka Doncic (3), Joel Embiid (2)
April 4: Nikola Jokic (2), Trae Young (3)
March 28: Devin Booker (3), Jayson Tatum (4)
March 21: Karl-Anthony Towns (3), Jayson Tatum (3)
Mar 14: Luka Doncic (2), Kevin Durant (2)
Mar 7: Karl-Anthony Towns (2), Jayson Tatum (2)
Feb 14: Luka Doncic, DeMar DeRozan (3)
Feb 7: Brandon Ingram, Pascal Siakam
Jan 31: Chris Paul, Joel Embiid
Jan 24: Nikola Jokic, Trae Young (2)
Jan 17: Devin Booker (2), Darius Garland
Jan 10: Ja Morant (2), Fred VanVleet
Jan 3: Ja Morant, DeMar DeRozan (2)
Dec 27: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kemba Walker
Dec 20: Karl-Anthony Towns, Jayson Tatum
Dec 13: LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis
Dec 6: Donovan Mitchell, DeMar DeRozan
Nov 29: Devin Booker, Trae Young
Nov 22: Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Nov 15: Stephen Curry (2), Kevin Durant
Nov 8: Paul George, Jarrett Allen
Nov 1: Rudy Gobert, Jimmy Butler
Oct 25: Stephen Curry, Miles Bridges
Players of the Month:
Mar/Apr: To be announced
Feb: DeMar DeRozan, Luka Doncic
Jan: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid (2)
Dec: Donovan Mitchell, Joel Embiid
Oct/Nov: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant
Which duo would you rather have on your team for the next 5yrs, 2022 Joel Embiid/Tyrese Maxey, 1986 Dominique Wilkins/Doc Rivers, 2022 Luka Doncic/Jalen Brunson or 1996 Jason Kidd/Jamal Mashburn? Rank if possible…
Luka/Brunson
Nique/Rivers
Embiid/Maxey
Kidd/Mashburn
Luka hasnt peaked yet and his best season y best or almost equal to everybody. So he is clearly the best option. Kidd, while a total beast, had the lowest peak among this group of superstars. And Embiid vs Nique… Nique is more durable so ill go with him even if Embiid peak is higher, i will be afraid of that.
I gotta completely disagree about Kidd having the lowest peak of the stars. He’s the only guy in the group that carried his team to a conference title (twice)
I was and am a huge fan of J Kidd, but those two years the competition was kinda meh… the overall skill of the league was lower than the Wilkins era or now. That’s why i think his peak, stats alone, is lower. Of course he had a lot more success than Nique. And ill argue Kidd was a better defender than Dominique.
I do agree the talent level league wide was higher in the 80s & now than it has been at any other times, esp the early 00s. The comp was kinda meh when MJ was winning the East in the 90s too but at the end of the day winning is winning. Plus I mean none of those other guys has ever even been out of the 2nd rd yet. Kidd carried a pretty average roster to the NBA Finals in consecutive yrs. And yes Kidd was a much much better defender than Nique. He was a better defender than even Embiid tbh. Ofc he didn’t score as much but overall he may well be the best of that group tbh
Thanks for mentioning the competition being meh when MJ was winning the East… i hate when people talk about the east being clearly better than when LBJ was making his runs.
You asked about who will i rather have on my team, not who had the most succesfull career hahaha i like my chances better having Luka above them all, even if he hasn’t won a playoff round yet. I think he is THAT good, and 5 years from now he will be even better (on paper)
Overall I do agree that J Kidd is kinda downplayed a bit compared to other greats of his era. For example Iverson, but i understand why he was/is talked more, because of his impact outside the game.
I can definitely understand picking Luka & Jalen. That’s a pretty great backcourt. They haven’t had postseason success yet in the NBA but both those guys are obviously born winners & have shown/proved that already. As far as MJ”s dominance in a slightly weaker era, there’s definitely something to that. I strongly feel that if Len Bias &/or Reggie Lewis survive that Jordan doesn’t dominate the East/league quite as much. But even if he wins 3 or 4 rings instead of 6 it wouldn’t really affect the way I see him. Only Wilt was as dominant over his peers as MJ was. Even during the 80s which was arguably the best the league has ever been he was head & shoulders better than anybody else even as a rookie. Sorta ridiculous how great MJ was tbh. But yea the early 90s-late 00s sorta pales in comparison to the periods before & after it as far as the level of talent