A team that wasn’t particularly great in the first place just became arguably worse.
ESPN reports that Charlotte Hornets guard Malik Monk has been suspended indefinitely without pay for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.
Yes, indefinitely.
As in, nobody has any idea when Monk will return to the court—if ever again.
Considering we’ve seen 25-game suspensions handed out already this season to Suns center Deandre Ayton and Hawks forward John Collins for PEDs, the indefinite nature of Monk’s suspension raises some eyebrows. Especially considering marijuana violations require a third offense to trigger a suspension—and that’s only for five games.
So what the hell did this dude do?
Should Monk miss the Hornets remaining 25 games, he’ll forfeit about $915K, which is gas money for LeBron, but a hefty chunk of change for a guy still playing on his rookie contract.
The timing couldn’t have been any worse for the former Kentucky star, who’s been putting up 18.2 points a game off the bench over his last seven games in comparison to only 10.3 for the season.
“Obviously, we give him our full support,” Hornets coach Borrego said. “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. And it does put us in a bind, but I believe that in the end, it’s going to be a very positive story. I look forward to talking to him, but that’s where we’re at today.”
The league declined to disclose any details of Monk’s violation, but Twitter, per usual, has its suspicions.
Hopefully he’ll return to the court soon.