The NBA anounced its Player and Rookies of the Month for January. Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell and Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker earned the NBA Player of the Month nods. Meanwhile, San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama and Charlotte Hornets’ Brandon Miller were chosen as the top rookies.
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell have been named the Kia NBA Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Month, respectively, for games played in January. pic.twitter.com/FflDJAvNh1
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 1, 2024
Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker Earn NBA’s January Players of Month
Mitchell picked up the Eastern Conference honors as he help keep the Cavaliers in the top six of the Eastern Conference despite being without Darius Garland and Evan Mobley for most of the month,
Mitchell turned in his best month of the season, compiling 28.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 7.2 assists with a shooting slash line of .473/.357/.812. He finished the month in style tying his season-high with 45 points in a win over the Detroit Pistons last night, marking his second 40-point game in January and fourth of the year. Mitchell scored 20 or more points in 11 of his 13 appearances and recorded three double-doubles.
Mitchell joins LeBron James, who earned the honor 26 times, as the only Cavaliers’ player to earn the Eastern Conference Player of the Month.
Additionally, Mitchell earned his fifth straight NBA All-star appearance as he was selected as an Eastern Conference reserve during TNT’s NBA pre-game.
Making his 5th #NBAAllStar appearance… Donovan Mitchell of the @cavs.
Drafted as the 13th pick in 2017 out of Louisville, @spidadmitchell is averaging 28.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 6.4 APG for the Cavaliers this season. pic.twitter.com/W4ozYIoeJC
— #NBAAllStar (@NBAAllStar) February 2, 2024
Cleveland went 11-2 in January notching the NBA’s second -highest winning percentage at .848. The Cavaliers outscored their opponents by 15.1 points a game as they held opponents to 105.1 which is nearly four points below their season average. As a result of their performance, the Cavs moved up two spots in the Eastern Conference to fourth. They enter February one-half game behind the New York Knicks and one and one-half games in back of second place Milwaukee.
Booker is the West’s winner, putting up 30 points a game, 6.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.1 steals. He also drained 2.8 3-pointers a game in January while compiling a shooting slash line of .539/.400/.860.
Booker, having a career year, is the NBA’s reigning Western Conference Player of the Week. He scored in double-figures in all 16 January games, scoring at least 20 points on 13 occassions and topping the 40-point mark four times. He scored a season-high 62 points against the Indiana Pacers on January 26.
According to Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports, the 27-year-old guard holds the most Player of the Month awards in Phoenix Suns franchise history.
This is Booker's third WC Player of the Month award, giving him the most in Suns franchise history. Kevin Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Shawn Marion and Charles Barkley all won it twice with Phoenix
— Gerald Bourguet (@GeraldBourguet) February 1, 2024
Like Mitchell, Booker was selected as an NBA all-star reserve tonight. It is the fourth time Booker has been selected to the Western Conference Mid-Season team, though he didn’t get the nod last year.
Wembanyama and Miller Earn NBA January Rookie of the Month
For the first time this season, the top two picks in the 2023 NBA draft were selected as Rookies of the Month. Wembanyama was selected as the Western Conference receipant and Miller was the Eastern Conference’s choice.
San Antonio Spurs forward-center Victor Wembanyama and Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller have been named the Kia NBA Western and Eastern Conference Rookies of the Month, respectively, for games played in January. pic.twitter.com/DE4u19OgPS
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 1, 2024
Wembanyama turned in the best month of his career thus far despite being on a minutes restriction for most of the month. The 20-year-old center averaged 24.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 3.3 blocks while shooting 50.6% from the field.
Wembanyam scored at least 16 points in all 14 games this month, topping the 20-point mark on 13 occassions. He also posted seven double-doubles while recording his first triple-double (16 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists) against Detroit on Jan. 10.
Like Wembanyama, Miller had his best month of his career in January. Miller totaled 16 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.4 assists a game while compiling a shooting slash line of .421/.333/.833.
Miller scored in double-figures in nine of his 13 appearances, scoring at least 20 points on six occassions. He tied his season-high with 29 points on 11 of 19 shooting from the field and 3 of 6 from the 3-point line against the New York Knicks on Jan. 29.
According to the NBA, Chet Holmgren and Cam Whitmore were the other nominees in the West, while Bilal Coulibaly and Jaime Jaquez were nominated in the East.
Other nominees …
West: Chet Holmgren (OKC) and Cam Whitmore (HOU)
East: Bilal Coulibaly (WAS) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (MIA) https://t.co/uvUw4Re4YD
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) February 1, 2024
Holmgren and Jaquez took home the October/November and December monthly awards.
