Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk has been reinstated by the NBA after being indefinitely suspended in February for violating the league's anti-drug policy.
There has not been an official announcement by the league yet, but Hornets president Mitch Kupchak shared the news at a press conference on Monday:
Speaking at an end of season press conference, Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak says Malik Monk — who was suspended in February for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy — was reinstated during the hiatus.
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 8, 2020
Monk was selected by the Hornets with the No. 11 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft after playing one season at the University of Kentucky. After struggling for his first two seasons, Monk was showing some promising signs in his third year, averaging 10.3 points in 21.0 minutes per game this season off the bench.
Monk's suspension seemed particularly ill-timed in the moment, considering how he had found a groove just prior to his suspension, averaging 18.2 points in the seven games before the league handed down the discipline. The supposed streak shooter only hit 28.4% of his 3-point attempts in the 2019-20 season, though his 38.6% shooting from deep in February was far and away his most accurate stretch..
Details of Monk's violations were never disclosed by the league. Monk has been noticeably quiet on social media and elsewhere since being suspended.
Hornets head coach James Borrego gave this statement at the time of the suspension:
“Obviously, we give him our full support,” Borrego said, via ESPN. “It's a situation that — all of us face different things in life. It's how you respond. It's my belief, knowing Malik, that he will respond the right way, and he has my full support, he has our organization's full support.”
While Monk has been reinstated, the Hornets' season is over because they weren't one of the 22 teams invited to Disney World for the resumption of the 2019-20 campaign. Charlotte sat just outside the cut line with a 23-42 record, which was just 1.5 games behind the Washington Wizards.
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