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The NBA has named LeBron James its Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in February, the Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday. James also named Western Conference Player of the Month for games played in January.
James joins Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only player that has won more than one Player of the Month award this season, and also becomes the first Laker since Kobe Bryant to win the award two months in a row.
Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum won the corresponding award for the Eastern Conference.
Through the 10 he games played in February, James averaged 26 points 49.7% shooting from the field, 8.1 rebounds, and 10.1 assists. He also picked up two triple-doubles last month, the last of which tied him up with Luka Doncic for the most triple-doubles in the NBA. The Lakers went 9-2 in February with James as their leading scorer, although it’s worth noting that he sat out one game during the month.
James has won the Player of the Month award 40 times, which is the all-time NBA record. Bryant is second on that prestigious list with 17 honors, which makes sense considering the league didn’t give the award by conference until the 2001-02 season. James was drafted in 2003 and won his first Player of the Month award in the first month of his sophomore season. Up until last season, he had won it at least once every season since then.
This season, James is averaging 25.5 points, a career-high and league-leading 10.6 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while playing a career-low 34.9 minutes per game. Meanwhile, the Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference by 5.5 games, are expected to clinch their first playoff berth since the 2012-13 season within the coming days.
If it weren’t for monstrous season Antetokounmpo is having, James would likely be in consideration for his fifth league MVP, and he’s a decade older than Antetokounmpo. Greatness like this is only seen once in a generation, so enjoy “Father Prime” while you can.
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