Dallas Basketball

Luka Doncic Snubbed? Paul George Wins NBA West Player of the Week

Despite going undefeated and joining Wilt Chamberlain in his historic start to the season, Luka Doncic missed out on winning Player of the Week.

Michael Mulford

On Monday, the NBA announced the Player of the Week for both conferences, and the player named for the Western Conference was not who Mavs' fans would’ve expected. 

Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George got the nod for POTW in Week 3 over Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic, despite Doncic joining historic company last week. 

Doncic led the Mavericks to a 2-0 record last week while averaging 34.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists, and 2.5 steals on 62.9 percent shooting from the floor and 41.7 percent from 3-point range. All of those statistical categories, except for his 3-point percentage, ranked better than George in Week 3. 

Doncic also joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only other player in NBA history to score 30+ points in 8-or-more consecutive games to begin a season. 

In George's favor, winning three of four games during the week opposed to only two for Doncic and the Mavericks was likely the deciding factor, yet the Clippers lost to the Utah Jazz on Sunday, whom the Mavs took down on Nov. 2. 

It's only a Player of the Week honor in the third week of the season, so there’s no need for panic or overreaction, but the answer was pretty clear on this one — Doncic was the better player last week.

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Michael Mulford
MICHAEL MULFORD

Michael Mulford is a writer/editor for Dallas Basketball, where he extensively covers the Dallas Mavericks. He also covers the Chicago Bulls as the Managing Editor for Bulls Wire of USA Today Sports Media Group. Mulford grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and graduated from the University of North Texas in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Recreation, Event, and Sports Management. He began his pursuit of sports writing in 2017 with Dallas Sports Fanatic, where he covered the Mavericks’ G League affiliate, Texas Legends. He then became the Managing Editor of Dallas Sports Fanatic just one year later and has covered the Mavericks as a credentialed media member since 2018, including covering numerous playoff games between 2021-22 and covering the team at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in 2019. In his time covering the Mavericks, Mulford has conducted numerous interviews for exclusive stories including with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki, former Maverick and current VP of Basketball Ops Michael Finley, former Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson, and more. You can follow and interact with Mulford on Twitter at @TheMulf.

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