The association announced on 1st December, 2009 the Rookies of the Month and the Coaches of the Month for the Eastern and Western Conference for the month of October-November. Orlando Magic star player Stan Van Gundy and Alvin Gentry from the Phoenix Suns were awarded with the Coach of the Month for the Eastern and Western Conference respectively. While Brandon Jennings from Milwaukee Bucks was named the Rookie of the Month for the Eastern Conference and Tyreke Evans was named the same for the Western Conference.
Since the start of the season on 27th October, till November, Jennings led the all-rookies scores with 21.8 points per game along with 5.7 assists per game and a 3-point field goal percentage of 0.500. In a game against the Golden State Warriors on 14th November, 2009, Jennings scored 55 points, far better than any other rookie. Jennings outruns the previous Bucks record held by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and scored a feat unachieved by any rookie since 1968. He also clinched the title of fastest player to have scored 50 points along with being the youngest one to do so.
Evans is standing next in line to Jennings in the rankings. He has scored 18.8 points with 1.3.3 steals, 4.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds, per game. Evans is leading the rookies in minutes with 36.1 minutes per game and with 20-point games. He is also ranked second in steals, fifth in rebounds and fourth in assists. Evans has scored 20+ points from a stint of 7 consecutive games, thus tying a record with Lionel Simmons. Simmons is a former Sacramento player who had achieved this feat in 1990-91.
Magic coach Gundy led his team into a 14-4 record (0.778 winning record) for the Eastern Conference. The Magic took record wins against Eastern Conference competitors Atlanta and Boston with an 8-2 smash. The program is ranked number one in opponents assists per game and opponents offensive rebounds allowed per game. The team is also fourth-best in points allowed and fifth-best in opponents field-goal percentage.
Gentry led the Suns into a 14-3 record, also an NBA-best one. Standing alone, The Suns are the only team yet not defeated at home grounds with 6-0. Displaying an archetypal high-octane performance, the Suns are at an all time high, passing the century mark throughout all 17 games played this season. The power-packed warriors have soared up to 11 games with a 0.500 score for the first time since 2007-08.
Other nominees for Coach of the Month included Doc Rivers from Boston, Scott Brooks from Oklahoma City, Mike Brown from Cleveland, Paul Westphal from Sacramento, George Karl from Denver, Nate McMillan from Portland and Mike Woodson from Atlanta.
For Rookie of the Month, others who were considered were Stephen Curry from Golden State, Ty Lawson from Denver, Jonny Flynn from Minnesota, Marcus Thorton from New Orleans, James Harden from Oklahoma City and Terrence Williams from New Jersey.