Suns’ Devin Booker Wins West Player of Month; Mavs’ Luka Doncic Snubbed?
DALLAS — The NBA announced the Eastern and Western Conference Player of the Month recipients for January, with Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell and Phoenix Suns' Devin Booker being the choices.
Booker's Suns finished with an 11-5 record, while he averaged 30.0 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.4 rebounds. It was a highly productive month for him and his team, but the historic nature of Doncic's achievements seems to have been possibly undervalued when determining this honor.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Despite having another historic month of production, Luka Doncic did not receive this honor in consecutive months. He averaged 37.1 points, 10.4 assists, and 9.2 rebounds in 10 games during January, with the Dallas Mavericks going 4-6 in that span and playing four games without Kyrie Irving available.
Doncic's achievements in January were highlighted by scoring 73 points against the Atlanta Hawks, tying for the fourth-highest scoring performance in NBA history. He had three performances scoring 40 or more points while reaching the 30-point threshold in eight of 10 games played.
By averaging at least 35 points and 10 assists in January, Doncic joined Tiny Archibald and Oscar Robinson as the only players ever to produce those figures for a calendar month (min. 10 games) while joining Archibald as the only players to do it in consecutive months.
In December, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the NBA's choice for Western Conference Player of the Month when Doncic averaged 37.5 points, 11.1 assists, and 8.9 rebounds in 13 games. The Mavs went 8-5 with Doncic in December. Gilgeous-Alexander's Thunder went 10-3, while he averaged 31.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 5.4 rebounds.
Whether it's Western Conference Player of the Month or MVP, the Mavs must win more games before Doncic will be recognized for his incredible impact, even if injuries and an inferior roster have been the driving forces behind the W-L column.
