Top 5 Players with the most NBA Players of the Week Awards
Since the 1979-80 NBA season, the league has handed the Player of the Week awards. The first ever recipient of the Player of the Week award was Julius Erving of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Until the 2000-01 NBA season, there was only one recipient of the Player of the Week Award regardless of the conference. The league changed it to one each for the Eastern and Western Conferences next season. The last ever winner of the solo Player of the Week Award was Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks.
NBA Players of the Week for Week 1.
West: @StephenCurry30 (@warriors)
East: @MilesBridges (@hornets) https://t.co/1hv3aclCpq
The first ever winner of the Eastern Conference Player of the Week was also Ray Allen of the Bucks. For the Western Conference Player of the Week, it was the late, great Kobe Bryant of the LA Lakers.
Now, let's take a look at the all-time list of players with the most number of NBA Player of the Week awards.
#5 Michael Jordan - 25 awards
Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time. However, Jordan only has 25 NBA Player of the Week awards to his name. The reason for this was that there was only one Player of the Week award for most of his career.
Jordan's first ever NBA Player of the Week award came in Week 12 of his rookie season. He averaged 31.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.3 blocks in four games.
Meanwhile, the highest number of Player of the Week awards Jordan has won in a season is four. He did it in the 1988-89 NBA season. His Airness also won two Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards in his final season as a member of the Washington Wizards.
#4 James Harden - 26 awards and counting
James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets currently sits fourth on the all-time list for most NBA Player of the Week awards with 26. Since Harden is still playing, he will likely add to that number and rank higher when he retires.
The former MVP won his first Player of the Week award in his first week as a member of the Houston Rockets in the 2012-13 NBA season. He averated 35.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.7 steals in three games.
Harden was never named Player of the Week as part of the Oklahoma City Thunder because he primarily played as a sixth man. 24 of his 26 Player of the Week awards were during his time with the Rockets and two as a member of the Nets.
For the second time already as a Net...
JAMES HARDEN ⭐️ EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK https://t.co/aPPDnFFMYu
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