MIAMI, January 2 – The NBA announced today that Miami HEAT forward LeBron James was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, presented by Kia Motors for games played in December 2012. This marks the 17th time a HEAT player has earned Player of the Month honors in franchise history, James’ seventh as a member of the HEAT. Additionally, this marks James’ second Player of the Month honor this season.
James, a three-time Player of the Week honoree this season, averaged 27.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.00 steals in December while shooting 55.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range. Only two other players in NBA history, Larry Bird (March of 1987) and Wilt Chamberlain (February of 1967), have averaged at least 27 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while shooting at least 55 percent from the field after playing in at least 10 games during a single month. He posted a triple-double and six double-doubles while leading the team in scoring 11 times, in minutes and assists 13 times each, in rebounds on 10 occasions, in steals eight times and in blocks four times. He posted six 20-10-5 games, including two 30-10-5 games, while grabbing double-figure rebounds four times and dishing out double-digit assists three times. He has now scored at least 20 points in each of the HEAT’s 29 games this season, the second-longest such streak since the NBA-ABA merger, only George Gervin has a longer streak after he scored 20-plus points in the first 45 games of the 1981-82 season. Additionally, he has continued his streak of scoring in double-figures in a career-high 448 consecutive games, including 170 as a member of the HEAT, a new franchise record.
James helped lead Miami to a 10-5 (.667) record, their franchise’s best 17th consecutive winning month. He posted a 26-point, 13-rebound, 11-assist triple-double on December 4 at Washington and then tallied 22 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds and four blocks without recording a single turnover on December 18 vs. Minnesota, and is just the fourth player in NBA history to hit those marks without a turnover, a feat he has now done five times, the most in NBA history. He capped off the month leading the team in scoring average, rebounds per game, assists per game, steals per game, minutes per game, field goals made and field goal percentage.
Among league leaders this season, James currently ranks fourth in scoring (26.3), eighth in minutes (38.2), ninth in assists (7.0) and field goal percentage (.544) and tied for 19th in rebounds (8.4), steals (1.55) and three-point field goal percentage (.417).