Many across the league were puzzled as to why Portland Trail Blazers small forward Carmelo Anthony won the Western Conference Player of the Week Award over Houston Rockets superstar James Harden and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.

Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports has the answer for you:

The league office decides its weekly honorees based on games from Monday to Sunday. So Harden was only credited with two games last week because he faced the Mavs on the previous week’s Sunday, which is why he wasn’t the top candidate, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The league seldom awards a player who played in just two games for the week, a league source told Yahoo Sports.

Portland’s 3-0 week is what gave Anthony the edge over Doncic, sources told Yahoo Sports.

Anthony put up 22.3 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for the Blazers last week. Portland defeated the Chicago Bulls twice and the Oklahoma City Thunder once.

Melo is averaging 16.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in seven games with the Blazers. The 10-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer is shooting 44.0 percent from the field, 37.0 percent from the 3-point line and 85.0 percent from the charity stripe.

Fans and pundits always have something to complain about. After being out of the NBA for more than a year, Anthony deserves this moment. Plus, Harden and Doncic will have plenty of opportunities to win the award moving forward.