On January 5, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced the attribution of the best awards for December: Embiid of the 76ers and Mitchell of the Jazz were elected as the best players of the month in the East and West respectively, and Durant (averaging 33.1 points per game) and James (averaging 30.7 points per game) were nominated. Magic's Wagner and Thunder's Gidey were each named East-West Rookie of the Month.
Player of the Month of December: Embiid (76ers) and Mitchell (Jazz)
December's Eastern Conference Player of the Month of the Month belongs to Embiid, who is 76ers. This is the third time embiid has been named player of the month in his career, and in the history of the 76ers, he has won at least three times in addition to Embiid, only Iverson (4 times) and Julius Irving (3 times). The 76ers posted an image congratulating Embiid on his election.
In December, Embiid played in 13 games, averaging 29.2 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. In December, there were only three players averaging at least 25 points and 10 boards per game, except for Embiid, Jokic and Alphabet Brother. Embiid scored in double figures in all 13 of his 13 games in December, with two of them scoring more than 40 points. Against the Hornets on Dec. 7, Embiid blasted a season-high 43 points and contributed 15 rebounds and seven assists.
December's Western Conference Player of the Month belongs to the Jazz's Mitchell. This is the first time mitchell has been named Player of the Month in his career, and he is also the first Jazz player to win the award after Delon Williams in November 2010. The Jazz's official social media post congratulated Mitchell on his election
Mitchell averaged 30.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, five assists, 1.2 steals per game in December, shooting 50.2 percent from the field, leading the Jazz to the league's best 12-2 record. Against the Timberwolves, Mitchell scored a 39 points, a new season high, and in addition, he scored 30+ points in multiple games. Mitchell's career total has risen to 10th in Jazz history.
The player of the month nominations for December are as follows :
East: Alphabet Brother (Bucks), DeRozan (Bulls), Durant (Nets), Garland (Cavaliers), Lowry (Heat), VanVleet (Raptors)
West: Curry (Warriors), Alexander (Thunder), James (Lakers)
Best Rookie of December: Wagner (Magic) and Gidey (Thunder)
The Eastern Conference rookie of the month in December was magic's Wagner, who averaged 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game this month. Wagner is the eighth player in Magic history to be named Rookie of the Month, after seven rookies who have received the honor include O'Neal (4 times), Hardaway (2 times), Mike Miller (2 times), Oladipo (2 times), Scott, Payton and Hampton. Against the Bucks in December, Wagner scored a career-high 38 points, the highest single-game score for an NBA rookie so far this season. He has scored in double figures in 19 consecutive games, the longest rookie record of the season.
December's Western Conference Rookie of the Month was the Thunder's Gidy, the second consecutive month he's won the award. Gidey averaged 11.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game this month. He finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists against the Lone Ranger, becoming the youngest triple-double player in history, not only setting a career-high in assists, but also setting a new single-game assist record for the Thunder rookie.
The rookies who were nominated for Best Rookie in December are as follows:
East: Barnes (Raptors), Cunningham (Pistons), Duarte (Pacers), Mobley (Cavaliers), Jurt Cevennes (Heat)
West: Herbert Jones (Pelicans), Davidson Mitchell (Kings), Shinkin (Rockets)