Former Teammates Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis Named Players of the Week

The NBA has handed out its Player of the Week awards, and the recipients are familiar with one another.

Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić and Washington Wizards forward-center Kristaps Porziņģis have been named the NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for Week 11 of the 2022-23 season (Dec. 26 – Jan. 1).

Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis were Dallas Mavericks teammates from 2019-22 before the latter was shockingly traded to the Washington Wizards at last year’s trade deadline.

Doncic has yearned for a frontcourt playmaking teammate during his career, and Porzingis wasn’t the fit he was needing. Instead, he now has that in Christian Wood. Doncic’s numbers have gone up tremendously with Wood in the starting lineup and the Slovenian All-Star is crafting up an MVP case for himself.

This week, Doncic averaged an unreal 48.7 points, 13 rebounds and 10.7 assists as the Mavericks went undefeated in three games.

Meanwhile, the Wizards are playing some of their best basketball as of late, and that’s large in part to Porzingis’ efforts. The Latvian big man averaged 24.5 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game during Washington’s 4-0 week.

While the trade appeared to scratch a lot of heads at the time, it appears that both European stars are adjusting to life apart just fine.

The Portland Trail Blazers visit Doncic’s Mavericks for a back-to-back next week, while the team plays Porzingis’ Wizards twice in February.