SAN ANTONIO — The NBA announced San Antonio Spurs' Harrison Barnes is the NBA’s Western Conference Player of the Week for the week ending Nov. 24, 2024, joining Eastern Conference's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Barnes is the first Spur to earn Player of the Week honors since DeMar DeRozan in 2020.
The veteran forward has been putting up eye-opening stats, which earned him the honor.
In three starts during the week, he's helped lead the Spurs to a 3-0 record with wins against the Thunder, Jazz, and Warriors. He averaged 22.3 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting .618 from the field and .600 from three-point land.
During the week, he posted three straight games with 20 or more points and recorded his first double-double since April 3, 2022, finishing with 25 points and 10 rebounds in a season-high 36 minutes vs. Utah on Nov. 21. In 100 minutes of play across the three games, Barnes had zero turnovers.
His play has inspired the younger Spurs, who look up to him (and Chris Paul) for guidance.
"Just getting that knowledge from those players (Barnes and Chris Paul), from those teammates, will help us so much throughout the entire season," Tre Jones said.
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His recent numbers are a complete turnaround. In his first 14 games of the season, when he averaged 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.
Now in his 13th NBA season, Barnes sets an NBA record for the latest into a career for a player to win a Player of the Week award for the first time, passing Mike Conley and Jrue Holiday, who both accomplished the feat in their 12th NBA seasons.