Link said he would sweep every Player of the Month honor this season.
Without question, that bombshell had everyone waiting to see Link make a fool of himself.
There were only six chances to win Player of the Month in an NBA season. Link had claimed three of them in the fiercely competitive Western Conference, which was already an incredible achievement.
In the 2009–10 season, even in the less competitive Eastern Conference, James had only won Player of the Month four times.
And that record was already considered nearly impossible to break. Without the right timing, circumstances, and support, even James could not replicate the miracle of winning Player of the Month four times in a single season.
As for sweeping every Player of the Month award in a season, that was even more of a fantasy.
It was even harder than Link winning MVP by unanimous vote last season.
After all, MVP was judged on an entire season's performance. Over such a long stretch, no one in the league could truly compare with Link.
With the time frame stretched out, occasional bursts from other players were far less convincing. But Player of the Month was different. All you had to do was play better than Link that month, and you could take the award from him.
A player only played a dozen or so games each month. If you went off in five or six of those games, you had a chance to beat Link for Player of the Month.
Over the first three months, Curry and Harden had both lost out to Link in the voting, but neither had been far from winning Player of the Month.
So Link had practically set himself an impossible goal.
In the past, Link had always delivered on his promises, making countless