Prior to the 01-02 season, the NBA Player of the Month was not divided into East and West.

In other words, at that time, only the best player of the month was born every month, not the current two. For the whole season, there are only 6 best places for the month.

Therefore, in those days, it was very difficult to win the best of the month for two consecutive months.

Even, if you can win two monthly awards in a single season, it is extremely difficult.

Three Monthly Seasons Awards? That's just an impossible task.

Michael. Jordan, Charles. Barkley, Hakim. Olajuwon, Patrick. Ewing and other "big players" of the month in the 90s have never achieved the achievement of winning the Player of the Month three times in a single season.

Under the selection rules of not divided into east and west, only the peak "Big Shark" has completed the miracle of hitting the best of the month three times in a single season.

At the beginning of the 01-02 season, the selection of the best player of the month began to distinguish between the east and the west, and the number of seats for the best of the month also changed from 6 to 12 each month.

As a result, it seems that it has become less difficult to win the best of the month three times in a single season.

Since the 01-02 season, Garnett, Kobe and James have all won three or more awards of the month in a single season.

The most ruthless was undoubtedly James in the 09-10 season, when he was named the Eastern Conference Player of the Month for four consecutive months. It's as if the whole East is revolving around James.

Although it is now easier to win the best of the month three times in a single season than before, there are only four stars in NBA history who can do this.

And these 4 guys, without a doubt, are all future Hall of Fame level players.

In other words, if Link wins another month in January, then he will be on par with the above 4 people!

And in the highly competitive West, no one has ever been able to win the best of the month for three months in a row.

There are so many tough players in the West that this season, for example, none of the top eight teams in the West are easy to mess with. And in these teams that are not easy to mess with, there is generally a star with outstanding personal ability.

For example, the Houston Rockets' James. Harden!

"Best of the month? Of course I crave! In fact, I'm working on it. So far in my career, I have never won the Player of the Month accolade. I really hope to break this embarrassing record this season. ”

In a courtside interview after the Rockets' big win over the Thunder, Harden did not shy away from expressing his determination to snatch the best of the month.

Now, halfway through the January season. At present, the best chance to win the best of the month is none other than Link and Harden.

Curry's stats for January have fluctuated slightly, and the Warriors have lost a couple of key battles that have been left behind by Harden and Link.

The individual performance of others is completely incomparable to Link and Harden.

If nothing changes in the second half of the month, then January's best of the month is basically a 2-1 situation between Harden and Link.

The next day, the reporters also interviewed Link, the other protagonist of the incident.

Unlike the energetic Harden, Link wasn't too excited when he faced the honor of the month.

"Best of the month? To be honest, I didn't think about it. The only thing I want right now is to continue the Grizzlies' winning streak. For me, it's the wins that matter. ”

Link didn't say that he must fight with Harden and break the situation that no one in the West can win the best three-in-a-row in the month.

His desire for this is obviously much weaker than Harden's.

Harden hasn't won the Player of the Month award in his career so far, but after all, Link won the Player of the Month in his rookie year......

This honor is no surprise to Link.

What's more, now that the Grizzlies' roster is relatively complete compared to the beginning of the season, Link doesn't need to do it all the time.

Therefore, the data will certainly not be as flashy as the previous two months.

Seeing that Link didn't seem to care about this matter, Harden was even more energetic and ready to do a big job.

The first best of the month, it seems that it is just around the corner!

For the remainder of January, James. Harden put out his best.

Playing the Warriors on January 17, although the Rockets lost, Harden's 23 points, 3 rebounds and 8 assists are still very eye-catching.

On the 19th, the Trail Blazers without George, the Rockets beat the opponent by 12 points, and Harden scored 45 points in a single game in this game!

After the game, Pacers coach Frank Brown. Vogel bluntly said, "James. Harden has played at an MVP level this season! ”

On Jan. 21, the Rockets lost to the Warriors for the second time in five days. But soon on January 23, Harden used 33 points, 10 assists and 3 steals, plus a mid-range shot in the last 1.3 seconds to win the stubbornly resisting Phoenix Suns!

A 45-point game and a stunner made Harden's call for the best of the month more and more loud.

The news of this bearded man was everywhere, and the heat even overshadowed Link for a while!

Now, people know that Harden is going for the best of the month. Everyone believes that Harden's performance is unbeatable.

Even Harden himself thinks so.

In the remaining four games in January, Harden also made persistent efforts and played very well.

Playing the Lakers on January 25, Harden had 37 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, and played another game with a shooting percentage of more than 60%.

Playing the Mavericks on January 28, Harden didn't give former teammate Chandler a complete blow. Parsons face.

In the whole game, Harden scored 21 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. At first glance, Harden's stats may seem like they've dropped dramatically, but his 61.5% shooting percentage is a season-high one!

In the past, people complained that Harden would only touch porcelain, and that his performance was extremely unstable.

But now, Harden has gotten everyone's mouth shut with two consecutive 60 percent shooting wins.

At the same time, it also proves that he does have the strength to compete for the best of the month.

On January 30, the Rockets vs the Celtics, Harden only made 4 of 21 shots and scored only 14 points in the game.

But it's widely accepted that the occasional poor performance doesn't hurt. Overall, Harden's January performance was still quite impressive.

And the next day, in back-to-back games against the Pistons, Harden was also very competitive to pull one back for himself.

Facing the defense of Pistons second-year guard Cardwell Pope, Harden hit 10 of them in just 17 shots in the game!

The data of 26 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists also allowed Harden to completely break the controversy.

At this point, the Rockets' January games are all over. At the end of the game, ESPN immediately typed Harden's January stats at the bottom of the screen.

Harden averaged 25.8 points, 6.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds, plus 2.2 steals, in 17 games in January and led the Rockets to an 11-6 record.

During that time, Harden scored at least 30 points in eight games, including 45 points and seven assists against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 20. Then on January 24, he challenged the Suns on the road, and Harden scored 33 points and 10 assists, and made a mid-range shot.

He was so confident that he thought the best of the month was in his pocket.

In an interview with reporters after the game, Harden said even more confidently, "I finally broke the embarrassment that no player from the Rockets has won the best of the month since 2008!" ”

Although the best results of the month will not be announced until two days later, Harden has already put the "crown" on his head!

After returning to the locker room, Harden happily checked Chalink's data for January, and Link basically didn't make any big news this month, no 60 points in a single game and no consecutive triple-doubles.

Harden thought to himself that Link's performance should be quite mediocre.

As a result, when the bearded man saw Link's January stats and the Grizzlies' win, he completely shut himself up.

Harden suddenly realized that he seemed to be a little overconfident......