On Wednesday night, Charlotte Hornets veteran shooting guard Jeremy Caliber had hit a game-winning shot against the Detroit Pistons. However, second-year guard Malik Monk completely ruined the moment by celebrating and prematurely running onto the court, causing the Hornets to receive a technical foul for having too many men on the court.
The Hornets still held on to win the game but Monk's childish ignorance caught the eye of Hornets majority owner, and NBA legend, Michael Jordan.
Per the Associated Press‘ Steve Reed.
Hornets owner Michael Jordan says lightly smacking the back of second-year guard Malik Monk’s head in closing seconds of Wednesday night’s win against the Pistons was a “tap of endearment.”
The Hornets owner, says “It was like a big brother and little brother tap. No negative intent. Only love!”
Not many NBA coaches or owners could get away with hitting one of their players, regardless of what they do but Jordan, considered by most fans to be the best player in NBA history, just might be the exception to the rule.
Jordan has owned the Charlotte Hornets since the summer of 2010, when they were the Charlotte Bobcats. The Hornets, who changed their team name from the Bobcats in the 2014-15 season, haven't had a winning season since the 2015-16 season.
The only bright spot on an overachieving 14-13 team is two-time All-Star Kemba Walker. Walker is averaging 26.0 points, 6.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds a game, shooting 43.1 percent from the field. With eight games scoring 30 points or more, he's been trending in the MVP conversation just for carrying the Hornets to a positive record.
Monk, who was selected with the 11th pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft, is averaging 10.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game while shooting only 37.1 percent from the field. His three-point shooting has been even worse, shooting 32.4 percent from deep.
Learning to keep focused and an advanced NBA scheme under first-year Hornets head coach James Borrego has been difficult for Monk. Hopefully, he'll continue to improve as he gets more minutes and reps.
*All stats gathered from Basketball Reference
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