James Harden Named Western Conference Player of the Month

Houston Rockets' guard James Harden was named the Western Conference Player of the Month, today by the NBA. Harden averaged 30.6 points, 7.1 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in the month of December. He was named Western Conference Player of the Week twice during the weeks of December 14 and December 28. The Rockets were 9-5 over the course of the month.

Harden had eight games with 30 points, three games with at least 40 points, and scored his season-high 44 points twice, against the Trail Blazers on December 22 and the Kings on the 11th.

This is the 12th time in Rocket franchise history that a player has taken home Player of the Month honors. It is the first time since Yao Ming in January 2008 (Ed Note: somehow Rafer Alston never won it).

As of the last update on January 1, James Harden was about 180,000 votes behind Kobe Bryant for the Western Conference starting five. Vote for Harden here.