LOS ANGELES — February was a huge turning point for the Los Angeles Lakers in their championship aspiration, trading for perennial all-star Luka Dončić and creating one of the coldest duos in the league alongside LeBron James, who earned NBA's Player of the Month (Feb.) honors for the West.
The Lakers (38-21) finished amongst the NBA's best with a 10-2 record and the league's No. 1 ranked defense (107.2) in February. James averaged 29.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists while shooting 44.3% from 3-point range and 55.5% overall from the field.
This is James' first Player of the Month nod since being awarded in back-to-back months (Jan. and Feb.) during the 2019-20 season when the Lakers went on to win the NBA championship in the bubble.
James, the league's all-time leading scorer, currently sits at 49,999 points in uncharted territory and is set to become the first player in NBA history to surpass 50K points (regular season and playoffs) on Tuesday against New Orleans.
He has 41,837 regular-season points and 8,162 playoff points, along with his Harry Potter book-length of accolades in his 22nd season.
Donovan Mitchell was February's Eastern Conference Player of the Month, who has led the Cavaliers (50-10) to the NBA's best record, averaging 25.8 points a game.