Joel Embiid and Domantas Sabonis win NBA Player of the Week award for second time in a row

It’s not very common for this to happen, but for the first time this season two players have won the NBA Player of the Week consecutively. We are talking about Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Domantas Sabonis from Sacramento, who are also in the race for this campaign’s MVP award. 

This is the fourth time the Frenchman recieves this recognition this championship, as both him and Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo are the players who’ve earned this title the most in the Eastern Conference. As for the Kings’ power foward, it’s his third, the most awarded in the West next to Portland’s Damian Lillard.

Sacramento Kings forward-center Domantas Sabonis and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 22 of the 2022-23 season (March 13-19). pic.twitter.com/iwXPfx69tX

— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 20, 2023

So yes, yet again, two centers who can play as fowards are the best performers in the league, this time from the games played between March 13 to 19.

Philadelphia registered a 3-0 record this week, winning every single one of their games by an average of a 22.7-point margin, as Embiid keeps building his case for becoming this season’s most valuable player. The 76ers star averaged 35 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks and 5 assists.

The other nominees in the East for the award were Milwaukee star Antetokounmpo, Heat’s Jimmy Butler, DeMar DeRozan from Chicago, and finally Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley.

As for Sacramento, who stay firm in the West’s second position, signed a 3-1 mark this past week, winning all three games from home at the Golden 1 Center.

Sabonis averaged a triple-doble in those four exhibitions: 22.8 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists, having scored 59.3% of his field goal attempts.

The other nominees in his conference were Rockets’ Jalen Green, Jaren Jackson Jr. from Memphis, Lakers young Austin Reaves and of course, his Kings teammate De’Aaron Fox.

Both players are in the race for this season’s MVP award

While Sabonis reached the Kia MVP Ladder’s sixth spot for the first time this campaign, Embiid overthrew Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic from the top of the race since last week.

It’s no wonder why the Sixers center is leading the pack, as he’s recently set a 76ers franchise record with 9 consecutive matches with at least 30 points, including 7 straight games where he shot 55% or better from the floor.

His best performance this past week was against the Charlotte Hornets, having scored a total of 38 points, won 13 rebounds, handed out 5 assists and produced 4 blocks that night.

Take a look at his highlights from the Sixers 121-82 victory on Friday, March 17:

Those seven straight contests with 30-plus points on 55% shooting are tied for the longest streak in NBA history. The big man is also averaging 33.5 points, 10.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists so far this tournament, leading Philly to a 48-22 record and currently sitting 2nd in the East. 

Just two weeks ago, the big man said all he really wants is the respect he feels he deserves as he’s fallen short in MVP voting the past two seasons. “What I can control is to try to win a championship,” Embiid said, who’s been shooting a career-best 54.1% from the field. “And I feel like that’s the only way I’m going to get that respect.”