Joel Embiid Diagnosed With Appendicitis, Undergoes Surgery
7:28 pm: Embiid’s appendectomy was successful, the Sixers announced (Twitter link).
2:34 pm: After initially ruling out Joel Embiid for Thursday’s game against the Rockets due to an illness, the Sixers have provided an update on the star center’s status, announcing (via Twitter) that Embiid has been diagnosed with appendicitis and will undergo surgery on Thursday in Houston.
The 76ers didn’t provide a timeline for Embiid’s recovery, stating that more updates will be shared as appropriate. But an appendectomy isn’t the type of procedure a player returns from in a matter of days.
Nikola Mirotic (in 2016) and Matthew Dellavedova (2021) are among the NBA players who have had in-season appendectomies in recent years. Both players were sidelined for between five and six weeks.
Trey Lyles underwent the same procedure in mid-July 2020 when he was a member of the Spurs and wasn’t able to play before the end of San Antonio’s season on August 13. OG Anunoby is another player who underwent an appendectomy that ended his season, though Anunoby, who had his procedure on April 12, 2019, probably could’ve suited up later in the Raptors’ championship run that year if they’d needed him.
The upshot is that Embiid’s regular season is certainly over and – barring a very rapid recovery – he likely won’t be available for any play-in or first-round playoff games, so Philadelphia will have to try to extend its season without one of its top players in order to give him a chance to return this spring.
It’s a disappointing turn of events for a team that has looked dangerous when its best players – Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Paul George – are all available. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened as often as the Sixers have hoped. Embiid has been limited to 38 appearances due to various health issues, while George, who has battled some injuries and served a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy, has played 34 games.
The Sixers currently rank eighth in the East with a 43-36 record. They’re within a game-and-a-half of the No. 5 Hawks but only have a half-game lead on the No. 9 Hornets. They have a tough game in Houston on Thursday before finishing their season with more favorable matchups in Indiana (Friday) and vs. Milwaukee (Sunday).
As for Embiid, the 32-year-old has averaged 26.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 31.6 minutes per game this season, with a .489/.333/.854 shooting line. He’ll earn guaranteed salaries of $59.5MM in 2026/27 and $64.3MM in ’27/28, with a $69.1MM player option for ’28/29.
What To Watch For In Season’s Final Days
The NBA’s 2025/26 regular season will wrap up on Sunday, which means we now have just four days remaining. Here are a few things worth keeping an eye on during those four days:
Playoff berths and seeding
Of the NBA’s 12 automatic playoff berths – the top six seeds in each conference – 10 have been claimed, including all six in the Western Conference. But in addition to those last couple top-six spots in the East, there are still plenty of seeding questions to be answered in the season’s final days.
Eastern Conference:
The Pistons have comfortably secured the No. 1 seed, but no other team in the East is locked in a specific seed (Twitter link via NBA).
The Celtics, who will play in New York on Thursday, need a single win or a single Knicks loss in the final three games of the season in order to claim the No. 2 seed. Assuming Boston finishes second overall, the Knicks will still need to hold off the Cavaliers for the No. 3 seed — they have a half-game lead and the tiebreaker edge over Cleveland.
The fifth through 10th seeds in the East are still a mess, with at least three teams in play for each of those slots. Here are the standings in that section of the conference entering Thursday:
- Atlanta Hawks (45-35)
- Toronto Raptors (44-35)
- Orlando Magic (44-36)
- Philadelphia 76ers (43-36)
- Charlotte Hornets (43-37)
- Miami Heat (41-38)
The No. 10 Heat, who still have to play three games, starting with one in Toronto on Thursday, will have a hard time moving up the standings, as will the No. 9 Hornets, whose final two contests are against Detroit and New York.
The Hawks, meanwhile, just need one more win to clinch a guaranteed playoff spot, but neither of their remaining games – vs. Cleveland on Friday and at Miami on Sunday – can be viewed as an easy win. It’ll be interesting to see how this race plays out in the coming days and which tiebreakers wind up being most relevant.
Western Conference:
Things are less chaotic in the West, where the Thunder (No. 1), Spurs (No. 2), Timberwolves (No. 6), Suns (No. 7), and Warriors (No. 10) are all locked into specific seeds. But the race for the third and fourth spots in the standings is an interesting one.
Currently, the Nuggets (52-28) are in the driver’s seat for No. 3, but they’ll wrap up their regular season schedule by hosting Oklahoma City on Friday and visiting San Antonio on Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Thunder sit some regulars on Friday, or at least play them fewer minutes — they have nothing left to play for until the postseason begins, and they’d probably prefer to keep the Nuggets in that No. 3 seed, on the opposite side of the playoff bracket.
The Lakers (50-29) and Rockets (50-29) are right behind Denver, and both teams have relatively favorable schedules to close out the year. Los Angeles will play in Golden State on Thursday before hosting the Suns on Friday and the Jazz on Sunday. Houston faces the Sixers on Thursday, then the Grizzlies on both Friday and Sunday, all at home. Given their injury woes, the Lakers appear most at risk of slipping to No. 5.
Further down the Western Conference standings, the Trail Blazers (40-40) are right on the 41-39 Clippers‘ heels for the No. 8 seed. Portland will need a victory over L.A. on Friday in order to gain control in that race — if they win on Friday, the Blazers would simply need to beat Sacramento on Sunday to line up a matchup with the Suns in the play-in tournament. Whichever team finishes at No. 9 would get a home play-in game, but would have to win a second one on the road to make the playoffs.
Traded draft picks and lottery odds
It’s probably safe to assume that the Jazz, who will send their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it’s not in the top eight, will be looking to extend their 10-game losing streak to 12 to close out the season. But even if they win a game and finish with the NBA’s fifth-worst record (or finish tied for the fourth-worst record and lose a coin flip), the odds of their pick landing outside the top eight would be minuscule (0.6%).
One more loss would lock the Pacers into a bottom-three finish, guaranteeing them the best possible lottery odds, including a 52.1% shot at a top-four pick. That’s important because their first-rounder will be sent to the Clippers if it lands outside the top four.
Interestingly, the Clippers are probably rooting for Indiana to lose out to finish the year — if the Pacers were to finish with the NBA’s worst record instead of the league’s second- or third-worst mark, that pick would have the exact same odds of falling outside the top four and being sent to L.A. (47.9%) but could fall no further than No. 5 rather than slipping to No. 6 or No. 7.
The Pelicans (26-54), Mavericks (25-55), and Grizzlies (25-55) are one group of teams worth keeping an eye on for lottery finishes. The worst team in that group could have top-four odds as high as 37.2%, while the best team could have odds as low as 26.2%. Of course, it’s worth noting that the Hawks control the most favorable of New Orleans’ and Milwaukee’s first-rounders.
Speaking of the Bucks (31-49), they’re neck-and-neck with the Bulls (30-49) for lottery positioning, with the worst of those two teams getting the ninth-best lottery odds. It’s safe to assume plenty of fans in Chicago will be rooting hard against their team on Thursday vs. Washington and Sunday vs. Dallas.
Award races and the 65-game rule
While it’s rare for an award race to be decided by what happens in the final two or three games in the regular season, there aren’t many slam dunks this year, so it’s entirely possible that a voter could be swayed by a couple more big performances from a certain player in the season’s final days.
Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg vs. Hornets sharpshooter Kon Knueppel for Rookie of the Year is one race that’s going down to the wire. There also doesn’t appear to be an overwhelming consensus for Sixth Man of the Year or Most Improved Player, among other awards.
Defensive Player of the Year is one award that looks like a lock, but frontrunner Victor Wembanyama will have to play at least 20 minutes in one of San Antonio’s final two games of the season in order to meet the 65-game minimum to qualify. The Spurs big man sat out on Wednesday due to a rib contusion, but the team is reportedly optimistic about his chances to return on Friday.
The 65-game rule figures to have a significant impact on voters’ decisions this spring, especially when it comes to All-NBA spots. Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Lakers guard Luka Doncic, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards likely would’ve been All-NBA shoo-ins, but they’ll each fall short of the 65-game requirement. It sounds as if the agents for Cunningham and Doncic may both apply for “extraordinary circumstances” exceptions, but the CBA language defining that term is so vague that it’s hard to say whether or not they’ll be successful.
Suns guard Devin Booker is among the other stars who will fall just shy of the 65-game requirement — he could end up playing in 66 contests, but because he logged fewer than 10 minutes in two of them, those two won’t count toward the minimum.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard will each have to play at least 15 minutes in one of their respective teams’ final two games in order to hit the 65-game threshold.
Potential roster moves
There are still a handful of teams with an open spot on their standard 15-man rosters, as our tracker shows. Those teams are as follows:
- Boston Celtics
- Chicago Bulls
- Utah Jazz
- Note: The Jazz technically have a full 15-man roster on Friday, but will open up a spot on Saturday following the expiration of Kennedy Chandler‘s 10-day contract.
It’s not unprecedented for a team to leave a roster spot open at the end of the season, but it’s somewhat rare — all 30 teams finished the season with full 15-man squads in each of the past three years.
Each of the three clubs listed above are good bets to make a roster move before their final games tip off on Sunday, even if it’s as simple as promoting a two-way player to a standard contract to make him postseason-eligible.
Of course, even teams with full 15-man standard rosters aren’t necessarily locked into their current groups. The Heat, for instance, are still considered likely to waive Terry Rozier at some point today or Friday in favor of a newcomer (or, more likely, a promoted two-way player).
Thursday would typically be the last day for a team to waive a player on an expiring contract, since he must clear waivers before each team plays its last regular season game. However, because a player clears waivers at 5:00 pm Eastern and none of Sunday’s games start before 6:00 pm ET, a player on an expiring contract – such as Rozier – could still be waived on Friday this season, notes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald (Twitter link).
Coach and front office changes
While most head coaching and general manager changes are made after a team’s season ends, it’s certainly not unprecedented for it to happen during the final couple weeks of the regular season. The Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth during the last week of the 2024/25 season, while the Grizzlies dismissed coach Taylor Jenkins at the end of March 2025. Earlier this week, the Bulls parted ways with top executives Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley.
Most action on this front likely won’t happen until at least next week, but I also won’t be shocked if news of a change breaks on or before Sunday night.
NBA, EuroLeague To Meet This Week To Talk Partnership
Chus Bueno, the EuroLeague CEO, is set to meet with NBA executive George Aivazoglou this week as they enter into conversation to determine if the two leagues will be able to collaborate on a joint venture in Europe, Mike Vorkunov writes for The Athletic.
Previous iterations of the NBA’s plans to expand into Europe had not included the EuroLeague, which had rejected the NBA’s previous partnership offers, but Vorkunov notes that those negotiations took place under former EuroLeague CEO Paulius Motiejunas. The change in leadership has put a possible partnership back on the table. Bueno, a former NBA executive, says that he’s open to the possibilities that the negotiations could allow for.
“We think that everything is on the table,” he said. “And I know what the NBA brings to the table, and I know that the NBA would like to operate (a league). And let’s have a discussion. If it makes sense for the teams, why not? You’re going to hear this from me. If it makes sense, why not? And this makes sense. Everything is on the table. But it has to make sense — business reasons, basketball reasons, and I think it’s (too early) to define because I want to hear from the NBA first. But we are open to any scenario.”
The NBA is seeking expansion fees between $500MM and $1 billion, as has previously been reported. While the NBA’s European league would almost certainly result in the creation of new clubs, the league is interested in bringing existing teams into the fold as well, Vorkunov writes. That means the 13 core EuroLeague teams have had to weigh whether to commit to their current league or explore jumping ship to NBA Europe.
“If they come, our recommendation to all the clubs is: sit down all together and have a conversation with the NBA and investors and everything that they have to the table,” Bueno said. “Sit down, trying to see how we can merge, partner, you name it, put the name and create the best basketball ecosystem and the best league possible. Because what I believe is that if we have two colleagues appearing on fragmentation, one team here, one thing there is not going to be good for anyone.”
Bueno says that his ideal outcome would be a merging of the NBA and EuroLeague into one larger enterprise, but he didn’t rule out the idea of the NBA outright buying the EuroLeague. NBA commissioner Adam Silver has previously expressed that the joining of the two leagues would be his preference as well.
“I think that I could be a little bit of glue, because I know both organizations,” Bueno told Vorkunov. “And I know there is trust among us. So, if I say something, I mean it. We will both negotiate, and we both are trying to do what’s the best deal for our partners. We have to win (for) everyone. If there is someone that is winning the negotiation, but isn’t balancing the execution, the execution is not going to work. … I think that both organizations can help each other a lot.”
Board Of Governors To Vote May 28 On Anti-Tanking Measures
The NBA’s Board of Governors has a meeting scheduled on May 28 to vote on draft lottery reform and new anti-tanking measures, ESPN’s Shams Charania said today during an appearance on NBA Today (Twitter video link).
The league’s tanking problem, which commissioner Adam Silver has vowed to address this offseason, was one of the topics of discussion during March’s Board of Governors meeting. Conversations about potential solutions are ongoing — according to Charania, there was a general manager call on Tuesday night to continue talking through the issue.
The NBA presented three separate lottery reform concepts to its governors at March’s meeting, though reporting earlier today suggested that the league-wide response to those idea has been lukewarm. Each of the three proposals involves expanding the lottery to at least 18 teams and reducing the odds of the league’s very worst teams landing the No. 1 overall pick.
During his NBA Today segment, Charania said that the concept that has gained the most momentum in recent weeks is the one that would expand the lottery to 18 teams and give the bottom 10 teams equal odds at the top pick (8% each). The remaining 20% would be split among the eight play-in teams, with each of the top 18 spots in the draft drawn via lottery.
According to Charania, the expectation is that if the NBA moves forward on that concept, it would undergo some modifications before it’s officially implemented and wouldn’t look exactly like initial reporting suggested. Any changes the league makes to the lottery won’t go into effect earlier than 2027.
The NBA has also sought the ability to assess more punitive penalties for teams engaging in lineup manipulation or other tanking tactics, while the players’ union has suggested implementing a “merit payment” system like the one in soccer’s Premier League, which would give winning teams larger shares of the league’s national television revenue. However, there’s no indication that the latter idea has gained traction with the league or team owners.
Cade Cunningham Expected To Return On Wednesday
Pistons guard Cade Cunningham is expected to return to action on Wednesday when the team hosts the Bucks in Detroit, reports Vincent Goodwill of ESPN (Twitter link).
Cunningham has missed the Pistons’ past 11 games, having exited a March 17 contest after playing just five minutes due to what was initially referred to as back spasms and was later said to be a back contusion. However, two days later, word broke that he had a collapsed lung, with reports at the time indicating that he was facing an extended absence.
Before being diagnosed with left lung pneumothroax, Cunningham looked like a strong candidate to show up on MVP ballots. Across 61 games for the East-leading Pistons, the fifth-year guard has averaged 24.5 points, 9.9 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 34.4 minutes per contest, with a .461/.346/.814 shooting line.
However, with only three games left in the regular season, Cunningham won’t be able to reach the 65-game minimum required for award consideration. That will make him ineligible for MVP votes and a spot on an All-NBA team unless the league grants him an “extraordinary circumstances” exception.
Still, Cunningham’s award eligibility is a secondary concern for the 57-22 Pistons, who will enter the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s top seed. Detroit has played well without its leading scorer in recent weeks, winning eight of 11 games with a pair of overtime losses during that stretch, but they’ll need a healthy Cunningham in order to have a realistic shot at making a deep playoff run.
Cunningham, who is still formally listed as questionable on the Pistons’ latest injury report, figures to be on a minutes restriction on Wednesday if he’s cleared to return.
Response To NBA’s Anti-Tanking Ideas Has Been Lukewarm
The three lottery reform concepts that the NBA presented at last month’s Board of Governors meeting haven’t generated much enthusiasm around the league, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN, who says the reaction to those proposals was lukewarm.
Each of the three proposals would expand the lottery to at least 18 teams (one of the three would include 22 teams) and would further flatten the odds for the league’s very worst clubs. The three ideas were viewed as frameworks that could use some tweaking rather than finished products.
However, as Slater details, the NBA faces two problems as it attempts to revamp the lottery and alter other rules in an effort to deter tanking. For one, there’s a “wide array of opinions” around the league on the best way to tackle the issue, with little consensus on the ideal solution. Additionally, Slater writes, some of the most popular concepts – such as beginning to count wins as losses for lottery purposes midway through the season – are complicated and wouldn’t be easy to explain plainly to casual fans.
Still, the NBA is determined to do something this offseason to address its tanking problem, which has, in Slater’s words, gone from a “largely ignored side issue to a full-on epidemic.” As he points out, the average margin of victory in games this season is 13.1 points, which would be the highest mark in league history. There have also been a record 89 games decided by at least 30 points.
John Hollinger of The Athletic took a closer look earlier this week at the one-sided nature of many of the games played during the second half of the season, noting that the nine lottery-bound teams that own first-round picks (all but New Orleans) have posted a 17-148 record against the 20 playoff and play-in teams since the All-Star break. To put that in perspective, Hollinger writes, the Bulls alone won 18 games against those top 20 teams prior to the end of January.
Here’s more on the NBA’s tanking problem:
- As Slater observes, teams have gotten more creative about their approach to tanking — one strategy that has been employed this season by teams like the Jazz and Grizzlies is signing non-standout G League players, then having them play significant roles at the NBA level. For instance, rookie guard Bez Mbeng is playing a more significant role in recent weeks for Utah than he did for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, and the Jazz have a net rating of -18.1 in his 406 minutes. “These teams are doing the whole gamut: sitting guys in the fourth, playing analytically bad lineups, drawing up plays for bad shots,” a Western Conference general manager told ESPN. “The creativity is impressive and I don’t blame them. (Losing to get a high lottery pick) is the best strategy to get better.”
- That sort of lineup manipulation is especially frustrating for the veterans who are losing playing time as their teams go into tank mode, Slater notes. “It’s easier to stomach if it’s a young player they’ve just drafted with a future in the franchise,” one Western Conference player told ESPN. “But when they’re just bringing in dudes off the street and playing them over you in a contract year? That s–t will piss anyone off.”
- Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said on Tuesday that he’s a “huge proponent of doing everything we can to make sure that every night is as competitive as humanly possible,” per Jay King of The Athletic. “We have the best players in the world and I think it’s important to let them be that on that stage,” Stevens said. “There are a lot of discussions going on about how to best focus on that, both in the near term and long term, and maybe there is a near-term solution that is a stopgap before a longer-term solution, when people have time to really think about it and break it down.”
- Warriors forward Draymond Green would like to see the NBA be more liberal with the fines it hands out to tanking teams, according to Nick Friedell of The Athletic. The league handed out penalties of $500K and $100K to Utah and Indiana, respectively, earlier in the season, but hasn’t been fining teams for tanking or dubious player management since then. “Just fine the hell out of people,” Green suggested. “We love taking money from players, keep fining the teams. I’ve seen two fines. And we all know everybody tanking. But you’ve seen two fines. … Everybody loves money. The punishment for players is always, let’s take the money. Well, now it becomes time to punish teams and all of a sudden nobody don’t know what to do. Why not? We know exactly what to do when somebody gets a technical foul. Or suspended for a game. We know exactly what to do.”
Bucks Guard Kevin Porter Jr. Undergoes Knee Surgery
Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday, the team tweets. Porter will miss the rest of the season and the team has not yet determined a timetable for his recovery.
Porter hasn’t played since March 17, when he racked up 25 points and 10 assists against Cleveland. The 25-year-old put up good numbers when he was able to suit up this season but only appeared in 38 total games.
Porter averaged 17.4 points — the second-highest total of his career — and a career-best 7.4 assists per game in 2025/26. He also posted averages of 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals per night.
This is actually the second knee procedure for Porter this season. He sprained his left ankle in the Bucks’ season opener, and as he was working to make his way back from that injury, he sustained a torn meniscus in his right knee. The guard wound up missing another four weeks due to that injury following surgery and also missed four straight games earlier in March due to swelling in his right knee.
Porter Jr. was re-signed by the Bucks last summer on a two-year, $10.5MM contract that also included a $5.4MM player option for next season. He’ll have an interesting decision to make whether to take the guaranteed money or become a free agent again. His knee injury could factor into that choice.
Mikel Brown Jr. To Enter 2026 NBA Draft
Projected lottery pick Mikel Brown Jr. has confirmed that he intends to enter the 2026 NBA draft, revealing his plans to Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
Brown, 20, had a strong freshman season for Louisville in 2025/26, averaging 18.2 points, 4.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 29.2 minutes per game. His shooting line was .410/.344/.844.
Unfortunately, the 6’5″ guard battled back issues for much of the season and was limited to 21 outings, including 19 starts. Brown didn’t play after February 28, and while he was only formally ruled out for the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, he suggested to Spears that he likely wouldn’t have been able to suit up even if the Cardinals had advanced to the Sweet 16.
“(My back) really was messed up, but I just kept trying to play through it. And then eventually it just led me to the decision that I wasn’t going to play in both tournaments — the ACC tournament and the NCAA tournament — just because I’m not trained to go half speed at all,” he said. “I always want to go full speed in everything I do, whether that’s me working out or playing a game. I just wasn’t able to do that at the time. So, I just felt like it was best for me to just sit out.”
According to Brown, his injury – diagnosed as a back strain – is improving. He told Spears he’s optimistic that he’ll be able to take part in pre-draft workouts this spring and play in Summer League in July.
While teams drafting in the lottery will likely want to take a close look at Brown’s medicals leading up to June’s draft, the sense remains that he’s a strong candidate to come off the board within the first 10 picks. ESPN’s Jeremy Woo has Brown ranked ninth on his big board, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has him being selected at No. 8 in his newly updated mock draft.
As Wasserman writes, Brown showed off impressive shot-making and offensive creativity as a college freshman, though he took some questionable shots and didn’t have a great assist-to-turnover ratio. Comparing Brown to Tyler Herro, Wasserman says some NBA evaluators may view him as more of an “offensive spark or specialist” rather than a lead guard.
Korver, Dunleavy, Fields Reportedly Among Bulls’ GM Targets
In addition to confirming the Bulls have been connected to Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd, Kurt Helin of NBC Sports adds a few other names to watch as Chicago begins its front office search.
Hawks assistant general manager Kyle Korver, Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr., former Hawks GM Landry Fields, and CAA’s Austin Brown are among the other potential targets for the Bulls in the wake of the firings of Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, league sources tell NBC Sports.
As Helin writes, Dunleavy is unlikely to leave his job with the Warriors, so his inclusion could be more of a “wish list play” for Chicago. The 45-year-old spent three seasons with the Bulls near the end of his playing career, which spanned 15 years (from 2002-17).
Korver, a longtime NBA sharpshooter whose playing career ended in 2020, joined the Hawks in the summer of 2022 as the team’s director of player affairs and development and was promoted to assistant GM in January 2023. He’s another ex-Bull, having played two seasons in Chicago.
Fields, 37, played five NBA seasons before eventually transitioning to a front office role. He was Atlanta’s GM for three seasons prior to being let go in last April. The team won 41, 36, and 40 games in his three years at the helm, making a single playoff appearance during that time and not advancing past the first round.
Fields was hired in January to be the new president of league operations for Overtime Elite. OTE is transitioning to become a national prep league, a source tells Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (Twitter link), rather than running its own teams and housing players year-round.
Brown, the co-head of CAA’s basketball division, is one of the most powerful agents in the NBA. He was linked to the Hawks’ front office search last May, and his client list includes Donovan Mitchell, Cooper Flagg, Trae Young, Jaren Jackson Jr., OG Anunoby, and many other noteworthy current and former players, per RealGM.
SGA, Jaylen Brown Named Players Of Week
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the league (Twitter links). This includes games played from March 30 through April 5.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s reigning Most Valuable Player, averaged 31.7 points, 5.7 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game in three Thunder victories as he puts the finishing touches on another MVP-caliber season. That three-game stretch included a 47-point outburst in an overtime win over the Pistons last Monday.
It’s the fourth Player of the Week award this season for Gilgeous-Alexander, who also claimed it twice in November and once in January. He and Luka Doncic are the only players to win the weekly award four times this season.
Brown earned Player of the Week honors for the third time in 2025/26 and the seventh time of his career by averaging an East-leading 31.0 points, 5.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game as Boston went 3-1. Celtics wings have now been named Player of the Week on each of the past two Mondays, as Jayson Tatum won the award last week.
Kevin Durant (Rockets), Cooper Flagg (Mavericks), Jrue Holiday (Blazers), Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray (Nuggets), and Victor Wembanyama (Spurs) were the other Western Conference nominees, according to the NBA.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Hawks), OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), LaMelo Ball (Hornets), Desmond Bane (Magic), Jalen Duren (Pistons), Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers) and Jayson Tatum (Celtics) were also nominated in the East.