Lakers star Anthony Davis and Sixers big man Joel Embiid have both recieved the latest honors for the Kia NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month, for the regular season games played both in March and the first week of April.
Davis, who can play both as a foward and center, has earned this hardware for the first time this season (third in career), as for Embiid it’s his third of the current campaign and seventh in his time as an NBA player.
The Kia NBA Players of the Month for March and April! #KiaPOTM
West: Anthony Davis (@Lakers)
East: Joel Embiid (@sixers) pic.twitter.com/Y0Im96de9V— NBA (@NBA) April 11, 2023
The eight-time All-Star guided the Lakers these past weeks to a league-best 14-6 record, averaging 26.2 points and 12.5 rebounds. The big man was able to drop in double figures in 17 of his 18 appearances, with 11 of those matches with 20+ points, eight with 30+ points and one 40-point display.
30-year-old Davis registered 11 double-doubles in that time frame, including two contests with 20+ rebounds. His best performance during this span was against the Timberwolves back in the end of May, as he hit 38 points and 17 rebounds in Los Angeles’ victory.
As for the French player, he became the first athlete to conquer this award three times in the same campaign since 2019/20. With his recent second straight NBA scoring title under his belt, the Sixers center produced averages of 33.3 points (scoring a league-leading 599 points in total) and 1.9 blocks in the 18 outings played in these past weeks.
Now he’s built a stronger case than ever for the Kia MVP title, having dropped his third 50-point performance of the season in Philly’s impactful 103-101 victory over conference rivals the Boston Celtics. In this department, Embiid became the third player in franchise history to register this same amount of 50+ point exhibitions in a single tournament.
Paolo Banchero and Jalen Williams named Kia NBA Rookies of the Month
As for the Kia NBA Rookies of the Month, Orlando star Paolo Banchero and Thunder forward Jalen Williams have been awarded this hardware for the matches played in March and April.
For the Magic rookie this is no surprise, as the guard has continued to impress in his debut season with averages of 20.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists during this span. Banchero, who was the last No. 1 overall pick, ended his campaign playing 72 matches in total, and averaging the most points among rookies (20.0), 5th in rebounds (6.9), and 3rd in assists (3.7).
Check out the 20-year-old’s highlights from his games played in March and April:
The NBA considered other nominees in the Eastern Conference like Jaden Ivey from Detroit, and Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard.
As for the No.12 overall pick this season, he averaged 18.7 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists in these final months of competition. The youngster proved to be crucial in Oklahoma City’s race for the Play-In Tournament, which plays this Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Williams, who dropped 30+ points twice during last month, finished the season with averages of 14.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists over 75 contests.
The other candidates in his conference were Dallas’ Jaden Hardy, Keegan Murray from Sacramento, Blazers Shaedon Sharpe, and finally Jabari Smith Jr. from the Rockets.
