Giannis Wins Eastern Conference Player of the Week

Jan 31, 2023 - 12:57 AM

Milwaukee Bucks" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/0LZa3Ny9mehTjfXA2NgHUzVsXO4=/0x156:3000x1844/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71923636/1460825133.0.jpg" />

Back on the court and seemingly recovered from his knee injury two and a half weeks ago in Atlanta, the NBA named Giannis Antetokounmpo Eastern Conference Player of the Week Monday afternoon, fresh off his fifty-burger last night against New Orleans.

You can peep the usual numbers above, but how about this unique shooting line: .647/.467/.580 while helming the Bucks to a perfect record. Per the league, The Greek Freak beat out Bam Adebayo, Kyle Kuzma, and Julius Randle for the honors.

As mentioned, this is the third time he’s received this superlative in 2022–23 after getting the call just once last season. For some further context, he won the award a whopping six times in his first MVP campaign, four times in his second, and thrice in the championship season. All told, this is the twentieth time in his career being named East Player of the Week. Sure sounds like a lot, but it’s a ways off from LeBron James’ record 67 (across both conferences), which itself dwarfs Kobe Bryant’s 33 in second place.

One week ago, Jrue Holiday took home this award for the first time as a Buck and the second time in his career. With back-to-back players of the week, this marks the first time that’s happened since the 2011–2012 season, according to RealGM. Guess who those lucky Bucks were? Ersan Ilyasova and Drew Gooden. Ah, memories.

Congrats to the true Smoothie King!