The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was awarded Player of the Month honors for December Jan. 2, and he deserved it.
The award was under consideration for three Boston Celtics, however, reports the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, with point guard Kemba Walker, shooting guard Jaylen Brown and swingman Jayson Tatum among the 10 nominees considered for the award.
While perhaps not as well reflected in early All-Star voting returns as they should be, each of the three logged outstanding months as 2019 drew to a close, and were worthy of consideration.
UConn product Walker recorded 23.2 points and 5.9 assists per game while shooting 40.8 % from deep, while Tatum put up 22.4 points, 6.7 boards and 3.3 assists per contest in December.
Georgia native Brown had an exceptionally strong end to the year, logging 22.9 points and 6.6 rebounds each tilt while shooting a scorching 44 % beyond the arc and 55.9 % overall.
Giannis, to his credit, earned the honor with a 29.3-point, 12-board, 5.3-assist average per game in December — though that the three Boston players managed to remain in the picture with each averaging north of 20 points per game is worthy of its own accolades.
While it’s been a while since a Celtic took home the designation (January of 2016 for Isaiah Thomas, to be exact), with these kinds of performances coming from the Jay Team and Walker, that streak might soon be coming to an end.
