Joel Embiid and Zion Williamson were named NBA Players of the Week
The NBA has named Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers) and Zion Williamson (New Orleans Pelicans) as their Eastern Conference and Western Conference Player of the Week, respectively, for Week 8 (December 5-11) of the 2022-23 NBA season.
One of the most offensive nominees in the entire league, Joel Embiid continued to be a juggernaut for the Philadelphia 76ers to play through, and he’s now earned his second NBA Player of the Week award this season, something only him and Giannis Antetokounmpo have done it so far.
The 76ers went 2-1 this past week and Embiid was a big reason they pulled off some solid wins, averaging 43.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while they’re 63.9 Percent shot off the ground. He’s notched up 38 points over the past week and Embiid has also recorded two double-doubles.
Embiid is now first in the league in scoring (33.4 PPG) and rebounds per game (9.8 RPG) after last week, tied for 13th.
The New Orleans Pelicans barely crept into the playoffs a season ago and now, in mid-December, they’re at the top of the Western Conference thanks to former overall winner Zion Williamson.
With Brandon Ingram unavailable due to a toe injury, Williamson has moved up the offensive end of the floor for the Pelicans and has been unstoppable lately.
He hasn’t even managed to surpass 20 points in his last nine games, and over the past week Williamson has been averaging 33.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game while shooting 70.4 percent from the floor lap.
Recently, Zion put up 35 points in a row against the Phoenix Suns and gave the Pelicans two important wins in the past week.
This marks the ninth time in Joel Embiid’s career that he has received the NBA Eastern Player of the Week honors, making him 17th all-time with players like Dikembe Mutombo, Jayson Tatum, Chris Webber and Dominique Wilkens.
For Zion Williamson, this marks the first time he has been named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week, and Williamson is now only the fourth player in team history to receive the Player of the Week award, alongside Brandon Ingram, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins.
Jarrett Allen (CLE), DeMar DeRozan (CHI), Buddy Hield (IND), Julius Randle (NYK) and Franz Wagner (ORL) were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Week, as were Luka Doncic (DAL), Rudy Gobert ( MIN), Nikola Jokic (DEN) and Ja Morant (MEM) were all nominated for Western Conference Player of the Week.
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