The NBA named their Players of the Week for the week starting February 18th and ending February 24th. You might know these players… and you’ll definitely know one of them.
.@kingjames (23.5, 9.3apg, 7.8rpg) of the @miamiheat & @kobebryant (31.3ppg, 7.7rpg, 6apg) of the @lakers named Players of the Week.
— NBA (@NBA) February 25, 2013
Kobe Bryant was named Player of the Week for the Western Conference (LeBron was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week). He didn’t exactly have the greatest game against Boston but still distributed the ball well, nonetheless, in a blowout win against the Celtics. He had 16 points, four rebounds, and seven assists in that contest.
—- Test your black mamba knowledge by taking this Kobe Bryant quiz! —-
What really stood out for Bryant were the last two games. First, in a win against Portland, he went for 40 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, shooting 15-23 (.652) in a very efficient game. And then in a Sunday matinee against Dallas, he went for 38 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists and shot 13-21 (.619). Right after that, he told Mark Cuban some choice words, pertaining to Cuban’s suggestion of the Lakers using the amnesty clause on Kobe.
In that week, Kobe averaged 31.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists per game. He shot .559 (33-59) in those three games. He also finally broke out of his three-point shooting slump, going 5-12 (.417) from behind the arc.
Most importantly, the Lakers went 3-0 in the last week.
Congratulations to Kobe Bryant for winning Western Conference Player of the Week.