Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Turns out that Donovan Mitchell and Ben Simmons can win the same award after all.
The two players, who were involved in the contentious Rookie of the Year race last season, both were named the player of the week for their respective conferences on Monday.
Mitchell averaged 34 points, 5.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds while leading Utah to a 3-0 record last week. All three wins came against current playoff teams — including the team with the league’s best record in Milwaukee.
And it was Mitchell's performance against the Bucks that likely earned him the player of the week honor. Mitchell scored a career-high 46 points — including 19 in the fourth quarter — to help Utah erase a 17-point deficit in the win Saturday.
"Oh man, Donovan was great. Donovan was special tonight," Korver said Saturday night of Mitchell's performance. "He hit amazing shots, clutch shots.”
He was pretty special all week.
Mitchell scored 32 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists in Utah’s 111-105 win over the Clippers. And he followed that up with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the Jazz’s upset win at Denver.
Mitchell shot 46.6 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range during the week.
This is the second time Mitchell has earned the award this season. He is the first Jazz player to win multiple player of the week awards in a single season since Carlos Boozer in the 2009-10 season.
