NBA Announces February Awards: Wembanyama Wins Player of the Month & Defensive Player of the Month, Spurs Sweep Four Major Western Conference Honors

On March 4th, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced its monthly awards for February. The Spurs' Victor Wembanyama and the Pistons' Cade Cunningham were named Players of the Month; the Spurs' Wembanyama and the Celtics' Derrick White were named Defensive Players of the Month; the Spurs' Harper and the Hornets' Knecht were named Rookies of the Month; the Spurs' Mitch Johnson and the Cavaliers' Atkinson were named Coaches of the Month. The Spurs went 11-0 in February, sweeping all four major Western Conference monthly awards, undoubtedly the biggest winner.

Players of the Month: Wembanyama and Cunningham

Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama earned Western Conference Player of the Month honors. Wembanyama excelled in February, averaging 22.5 points, 3.5 assists, 11.3 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, and 1.4 steals. The 22-year-old claimed his first career Player of the Month award.

Other candidates for Western Conference Player of the Month included:

Donovan Clingan (Trail Blazers), Luka Dončić (Lakers), Kevin Durant (Rockets), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Nikola Jokić (Nuggets), Kawhi Leonard (Clippers).

Pistons guard Cade Cunningham became the first player this season to win Player of the Month twice—earning the Eastern Conference honor for February after previously winning for October/November.

Led by Cunningham, the Pistons posted a 9-2 record in February, securing the top spot in the East. The former No. 1 overall pick averaged 33.5 minutes, contributing 25.4 points, 9.9 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 blocks, with shooting splits of 47.2% FG, 37.3% 3PT, and 76.9% FT.

Cunningham's most impressive performance came after the All-Star break, when he dropped 42 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds in a victory over the Knicks in New York. This was one of his six double-doubles in February.

The league stated Cunningham beat out the following candidates for East Player of the Month:

Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers), Desmond Bane (Magic), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks), Brandon Ingram (Raptors), Brandon Miller (Hornets), Ryan Rollins (Bucks).

Defensive Players of the Month: Wembanyama and White

Victor Wembanyama was named Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month for February, while Celtics guard Derrick White earned the Eastern Conference honor.

As the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, Wembanyama led the league with 3.5 blocks per game in February, raising his season average to 2.9 blocks, which remains first in the NBA.

According to NBA statistics, he averaged 9.3 defensive rebounds in February, ranking second in the West, while the Spurs achieved a perfect 11-0 record for the month.

The Spurs led the league with a +15.1 net rating in February, fueled by their 106.2 defensive rating—second in the NBA and first in the West.

With Wembanyama on the court for 323 minutes, the team's defensive rating soared to 100.0; it was 111.1 when he was off.

Wembanyama also won Western Conference Defensive Player of the Month in January, making him the first player this season to win the award consecutively.

The Celtics were the only team with a better defensive rating (105.5) than the Spurs in February, and White was a key reason.

Despite being just 6'4", the veteran guard averaged 1.7 blocks per game in February, ranking third in the East. Per NBA tracking, he contested 75 shots this month, the most among all guards.

Similar to Wembanyama's impact for the Spurs, the Celtics' defensive rating was also 100.0 in February when White was on the floor.

Western Conference candidates included:

Wembanyama's teammate Castle, Clippers guard Chris Dunn, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr., the Thunder's Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace.

Eastern Conference candidates were:

Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Knicks forward OG Anunoby, Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels, Pistons wing Ausar Thompson.

Rookies of the Month: Harper and Knecht

Hornets wing Kon Knecht won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month for the fourth consecutive time.

He has swept every East Rookie of the Month award so far in the 2025‑26 season—for October/November, December, January, and February.

Knecht led the Hornets to an 8-3 record in February, further solidifying his lead in the Rookie of the Year race.

He averaged 31.5 minutes, 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, shooting 50.3% from the field.

Most notably, his three-point shooting was stellar: 49-for-101 (48.5%), averaging 4.5 made threes per game.

Knecht had previously shared Rookie of the Month honors three times in a row with his former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg.

But with Flagg sidelined for much of February due to a foot injury, Spurs guard Dylan Harper became the first non-Duke player to win Rookie of the Month this season, claiming the West honor.

In games Harper played in February, the Spurs were undefeated at 10-0.

The No. 2 overall pick averaged 25.1 minutes, 12.5 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.9 rebounds, shooting 55.4% from the field.

The Spurs' net rating was an astounding +21.0 in February with Harper on the court.

East candidates:

76ers guard VJ Edgecombe, Wizards forward Will Riley, Nets guard Nolan Traore.

West candidates:

Jazz forward Ace Bailey, Grizzlies guard Javon Small, Kings big man Maxim Renault, Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg.

Coaches of the Month: Mitch Johnson and Atkinson

Mitch Johnson, who led the Spurs to an 11-0 February record, was named Western Conference Coach of the Month. Atkinson, who guided the Cavaliers to an 8-3 February record, earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month.

The other nominated coaches were as follows—

West:

Mark Daigneault (Thunder), Chris Finch (Timberwolves), Ime Udoka (Rockets)

East:

JB Bickerstaff (Pistons), Mike Brown (Knicks), Charles Lee (Hornets), Joe Mazzulla (Celtics)