Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has been named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Jan. 16-22.
This marks the second weekly honor James has received this season as he was also named Western Conference Player of the Week earlier this month for Jan. 2-8. Anthony Davis also took home the honor in December so this is the third time this season it has gone to a Lakers player.
In four games this past week, James led the Lakers to a 3-1 record with wins over the Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers. He averaged 35.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 1.3 blocks while shooting 51% from the field.
James began the week with one of his best games over the season, pouring in a season-high 48 points on 16-of-26 shooting with eight rebounds and nine assists against the Rockets. He then had 32 points, eight rebounds, nine assists, one steal and one block in the lone loss to the Sacramento Kings.
While James struggled to shoot the ball against the Grizzlies, he still had 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks and was key down the stretch in helping snap Memphis’ franchise-best 11-game winning streak.
He then closed out the week with an outstanding 37-point, 11-rebound, 4-assist and 2-block performance in the road win over Portland. The Lakers trailed by 25 points at halftime of that game and James led them all the way back by relentlessly attacking the rim in the season half.
Overall in 37 games this season, James is averaging 29.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.0 steals in 36.2 minutes. He will likely be named an All-Star captain once again when the starting lineups are announced this week.
This marks the 67th weekly award of James’ career, which is the most in NBA history. Six of those have come since he joined the Lakers in 2018. For a 38-year-old in the 20th season of his career, LeBron is showing no signs of slowing down as the Lakers are working their way back into postseason contention largely in part to his stellar play.
Lakers set to acquire Hachimura from Wizards
While James has been incredible, he still will need some more help if the Lakers are gonna be in the championship mix this season.
The Lakers front office realized this and finally made a trade on Monday, reportedly sending Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks to the Washington Wizards for forward Rui Hachimura.
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