LeBron and Giannis named Western and Eastern Conference player of the month for January

The NBA named Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Western Conference and Eastern Conference player for the games played in January.

James is not new to these monthly awards, for he has won the Eastern Conference player of the month a whopping 38 times when he represented Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat. But for the Lakers’ point of view, this is a big achievement, a big sign of an escalated profile, as James is the first Lakers player since Kobe Bryant achieved the feat in February 2013 to win a monthly award.

The four-time NBA MVP racked up points at 25.4 per game on 50.4% shooting, to go with 8.1 rebounds, 10.4 assists and 1.4 steals in the month of January. The 35-year-old also managed 14 scores in double-digits, with 10 of those games seeing him scoring 20 or more points and also had five games with 30 points or more points. In addition, the three-time NBA champion, with his 29 points against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 26, passed Lakers legend Kobe Bryant who died in a fatal helicopter on January 28, on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

On the season, James is averaging 25.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and the league-best 10.7 assists per game. Lakers are currently sitting atop the Western Conference with a 38-11 record on the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, was named as the Eastern Conference player of the month for January. The Greek-Freak is now very much used to these awards as he has won the award each month this season, also winning seven times in the last eight months dating back to last season.

The 2018-19 NBA MVP led the Bucks to 11-2 record in January. He averaged 29.2 points on 54.7% from the field during that period, along with 13.4 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game.

Giannis played a total of 12 games in January and clocked nine games with 20 points or more and six games in excess of 30 points. He also had nine games with 10+ rebounds and dropped his fourth triple-double of the season in 111-98 win over the Chicago Bulls on January 20.

For the whole season, Giannis is ranked as the second-best offensive player with 30.0 points per game and is 5th with 13.1 rebounds per game.