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Malik Monk caught the ire of Charlotte Hornets team owner Michael Jordan on Wednesday night. Monk ran out onto the court after Jeremy Lamb hit a go-ahead bucket with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. Monk was called for a technical, which allowed the Hornets to cut the deficit to one.
Since Charlotte was up by two, the technical foul didnât cost the Hornets, but Jordan wasnât happy with the second-year playerâs mental mistake. He gave Monk a light slap on the back of the head following the play:
Michael Jordan gave Malik Monk a little slap for running on the court too early đđđ pic.twitter.com/bkEDux8LAu
â Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) December 13, 2018
The hilarious moment was caught on tape, but he felt the slap was a âtap of endearment.â Monk didnât want to make a big deal of the moment despite Jordanâs obvious frustration following the technical foul:
âI donât know, he hit a shot, he just smacked me in the back of the head. It ainât really â he didnât say nothing, it wasnât really nothing. I donât know how to explain what you see with the media and all that, but itâs nothing. Ainât nobody worried about that.â
Malik Monk on the end of Wednesdayâs game and Michael Jordanâs âTap of endearment.â pic.twitter.com/6r3ihy66v6
â Rick Bonnell (@rick_bonnell) December 13, 2018
Monk was downplaying the moment and clearly isnât dwelling on it. Jordan was clearly frustrated with Monk, but this isnât a huge deal. Monkâs youthful exuberance got the better of him, but it didnât cost Charlotte the game. No harm, no foul.
Furthermore, Monk is only a 20-year-old who figures to be a big part of the future in Charlotte. Monk and the Hornets can live with this type of mistake as long as it isnât something that continues. Perhaps Michael Jordan smacked some sense into Malik Monk so it wonât.