The NBA has awarded Miami Heat star Jaime Jaquez Jr. the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month award for the duration of December. Jaquez won the award the month prior as well, making it back-to-back times that he has achieved the impressive feat.

There is no doubt that Jaquez has been exceptional in the month of December as Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra already has the trust in him to perform at a high level in the more important parts of the game. Miami posted about the news on their X (formerly known as Twitter) account with the tagline of “Back to Back like he's on the cover of Lethal Weapon.”

Jaquez with an impressive December

Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. in front of the Kaseya Center.

Jaquez is not the only Heat rookie to obtain Rookie of the Month awards in back to back months as Kendrick Nunn did so back in the 2019-20 season where he actually did it for three months straight. However, with the way the rookie has been playing, he should be in line to get it again for the month of January. The only other rookie for Miami to do it was Caron Butler in his first year where he was recognized four times by the association, though it was not in consecutive months.

He has especially been a huge factor since he was inserted into the starting lineup for the injured Jimmy Butler, who the two have been compared to a numerous amount of times. In December, Jaquez has averaged 16.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 84.9 percent from the foul line.

An eye-opening statistic in accordance with Jaquez is that he has played 315.8 fourth quarter minutes, which is the most in the entire NBA. Just to say again, he is a rookie.

Jaquez will look to keep the hot streak going as the Heat will end their five-game road trip Friday night as they face the Phoenix Suns. Miami is 20-14 on the season which puts them at fourth in the Eastern Conference.