LeBron wins fourth straight player of the month award
CLEVELAND – The NBA announced Wednesday that Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James has been named the Kia NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for games played in October and November 2016. This marks the 21st time a Cavs player has earned Player of the Month honors and James’ 33rd, the most in NBA history. Dating back to February of last season, James has won each of the last four Player of the Month awards in the Eastern Conference.
This past October and November, James averaged 23.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 9.3 assists in 35.9 minutes as the Cavaliers went 13-2 in the 15 contests he appeared in. He also shot .498 from the field, .362 from beyond the arc and .720 from the foul line. The 6-8 forward won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice in the opening month (weeks ending October 30 and November 6) and registered nine double-doubles and a conference-best three triple-doubles (Oct. 25 vs. New York, Nov. 23 vs. Portland and Nov. 27 at Philadelphia).
Among Eastern Conference leaders, James ranked first in plus/minus (+159), tied for first in assists per game (9.3), fourth in field goals made per game (8.5), sixth in points per game (23.5), tied for sixth in double-doubles (9) and tied for 13th in rebounds per game (8.1).
Last month, the 12-time NBA All-Star recorded at least 20 points, five assists and five rebounds nine times and scored in double figures in all 15 games, increasing his streak of at least 10 points to 732 games, the third-longest in league history. James was also the only player in the NBA to shoot over .490 from the field with averages of at least 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.0 assists.
James reached several historical achievements and milestones throughout October and November. He first moved past Patrick Ewing (9,702) for 15th all-time in field goals made on October 28 at Toronto.
The following night, James became Cleveland's franchise leader in defensive rebounds, surpassing Brad Daugherty (4,020) on October 29 versus Orlando. He also moved into 10th place on the NBA's all-time scoring list, passing Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946) on November 5 at Philadelphia. Less than a week later, he became the youngest player to reach 27,000 career points (31 years, 317 days) with his seventh point against Washington on November 11. James surpassed Guy Rodgers (6,917) for 17th all-time in assists on November 18 against Detroit and most recently, he became the first player in franchise history to make 1,000 three-pointers in a Cavaliers uniform on November 27 at Philadelphia.
Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook won Player of the Month accolades for the Western Conference.
(Cleveland Cavaliers press release)
