Kings’ Malik Monk expresses a revealing response following being overlooked for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Guard Malik Monk narrowly missed out on winning this season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year award, with the honor going to Minnesota Timberwolves center Naz Reid during Wednesday evening’s announcement. This marks the second consecutive year Monk has been a finalist for the award, and many supporters felt he deserved the recognition after an impressive season contributing off the bench for the Kings. Monk seemed to echo these sentiments and expressed his thoughts on the matter.
In response to a statistic highlighting Monk as the first player in the last 35 years to lead the NBA in bench points in consecutive seasons without winning the Sixth Man of the Year award, Monk shared a series of emojis indicating his amusement at the perceived snub.
Monk appeared in 72 games for Sacramento this season, serving as a bench player in all of them. He maintained averages of 15.4 points and 5.1 assists while logging an average of 26 minutes per game.
Despite Monk’s significant role in the Kings’ lineup, Reid’s contributions to the Timberwolves were deemed more impactful according to the voting results, although Monk seems to hold a differing opinion.
Throughout his career, Monk has primarily thrived as a bench player, a role he seems well-suited for. Across 458 career games with the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Lakers, and Kings, Monk has started just 38 games, with 37 of those starts occurring during the 2021–22 season with the Lakers.
