Malik Monk opens up about his frustration not playing for Hornets: ‘I know I can help’

Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk said he was lucky to recover from COVID-19 in four days.

That doesn’t mean the disease didn’t scar him.

Monk told The Observer on Wednesday that his grandmother died from the virus the same week he tested positive for it in December.

“She passed in four days, while I beat it in four days,” Monk said in a phone interview from Dallas, where the Hornets play the Mavericks on Wednesday night.

Monk, the 11th pick in the 2017 draft, didn’t play in the Hornets’ first three games. He and two rookies chosen in the second round — Vernon Carey and Nick Richards — are the only Charlotte players (not counting two-way contracts) yet to enter a game.

The virus cost him a week of training camp and hurt his conditioning for a couple of weeks, but Monk says there’s nothing physically now that would keep him from performing. He’s playing behind Cody and Caleb Martin and Jalen McDaniels on a roster far deeper this season than last at the wing positions.

Monk understands the stakes: He’ll be a free agent next summer, with the Hornets able to restrict that free-agency with a $7.3 million qualifying offer. That means this season is an extended audition for the whole NBA, not only for the Hornets.

“This is the big one. A big step to show what I can do,” Monk said of his fourth pro season. “With other teams, not only the Charlotte Hornets. To show other teams what I can do and how productive I can be. I can’t do that if I’m not on the court, but I don’t control that.”

‘People don’t think I work’

Monk understands the misgivings resulting from his past. He said last February he wasn’t emotionally ready to be an NBA player when he turned pro after one season at Kentucky. Wildcats coach John Calipari has said he wishes he’d been harder on Monk in college in Lexington to prepare him better for the NBA.

Monk had a breakthrough month in February. Over 13 games, he averaged 17 points on 46% shooting — driving more, creating shots for teammates, thriving so much he got his first NBA start Feb. 25 against the Indiana Pacers. And then, before the next game, he was suspended indefinitely by the NBA under the anti-drug policy.

Monk was reinstated during the NBA’s hiatus, and the suspension seemed to shake him up in a positive way: He was quick to publicly take responsibility, and he devoted himself over the summer to conditioning.

“People don’t think I work. I do everything quietly,” Monk said. “I can’t put into words how hard I’ve worked. Two or three workouts a day. I’m just working until my time comes.”

‘No issues’

Hornets coach James Borrego said Monk hasn’t done anything wrong causing him to sit.

“I’ve got no issues with Malik. He’s doing everything that he can,” Borrego said Tuesday. “It’s more about the group around him that have solidified themselves.”

Hornets general manager Mitch Kupchak said multiple times last season that Monk is probably the Hornets’ most athletically gifted player. The franchise wants to get more return on the investment made in Monk’s development. But Kupchak doesn’t dictate to Borrego who to play.

Monk says he hasn’t gotten much feedback from the coaches beyond work hard and stay ready.

“Super, super, super freaking frustrating (with) the waiting,” Monk said. “The month of February, I finally became an NBA player, finally got the minutes I thought I deserved a couple of years ago. I was proving myself. And that’s all I really could ask for at that point.”

And now?

“It’s super frustrating, when I know I can help a lot.”