Sacramento Kings star wins NBA Player of the Week award after record-setting performance
Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis has been named the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week.
Sabonis averaged 22.0 points, 20.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.3 blocks last week to help the Kings go 3-0 as part of their current seven-game winning streak.
The All-NBA center set a Sacramento-era single-game franchise record with 28 rebounds in a resounding win over the Boston Celtics on Friday. Sabonis grabbed the most rebounds by a Kings player since Connie Dierking (28) on March 19, 1969, and the most by a Celtics opponent since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (30) on Feb. 28, 1971.
The Kings (20-19) have won seven games in a row under Doug Christie, who was named interim coach after Mike Brown was fired Dec. 27. The Kings have jumped from 12th to ninth in the Western Conference — 1 ½ games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 6 seed — going into Tuesday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
This is the sixth Player of the Week award of his carer and his fourth since coming to Sacramento in a blockbuster trade involving Tyrese Haliburton. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.
Other nominees in the West included the Kings’ DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker and Kevin Durant, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr., the Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun and the Denver Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook.
Sabonis is averaging 20.7 points, 14.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists while shooting 59.9% from the field and 46% from 3-point range. He leads the league in double-doubles (34) and ranks fourth in triple-doubles (5). He also leads the NBA in rebounds per game while ranking second in total rebounds (512), defensive rebounds (371), offensive rebounds (141), defensive rebounds per game (10.3) and offensive rebounds per game (3.9).
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 1:26 PM.
