Before the 2001–02 season, the NBA's Player of the Month Award was not divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences.
In other words, only one Player of the Month was selected each month back then, rather than two as there were now. Over an entire season, there were only six such spots.
Therefore, in that era, winning Player of the Month in consecutive months was an extremely difficult feat.
Even winning it twice in a single season was tremendously difficult.
Winning Player of the Month three times in one season? That was simply an impossible task.
Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, and other frequent Player of the Month winners from the 1990s had never achieved three Player of the Month Awards in a single season.
Under the old system, which did not distinguish between the Eastern and Western Conferences, only the peak "Big Shark" had accomplished the miracle of winning Player of the Month three times in one season.
Beginning with the 2001–02 season, the Player of the Month Award was split between the Eastern and Western Conferences, increasing the number of monthly awards from six to twelve.
As a result, winning Player of the Month three times in a season seemed less difficult.
Since the 2001–02 season, Garnett, Kobe, and James had all won Player of the Month three or more times in a single season.
The most ruthless was undoubtedly James in the 2009–10 season. That year, he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for four straight months. It was as if the entire Eastern Conference revolved around James.
Although winning Player of the Month three times in a season was easier now than before, only four stars in NBA history had managed to do it.
And without exception, all four were future