Naz Reid Says He and Charles Lee Have ‘Been Fine’ Since Hornets Benching

12 days after Hornets coach Charles Lee kept him on the bench for the second half in Detroit, Naz Reid had 25 points and 13 rebounds Monday night in the Charlotte Hornets' 124-112 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at Spectrum Center.  

After the game, Rod Boone of The Boone Docs posted video of Reid's answer about the Oct. 28 benching and where things stand with Lee.

Directing traffic for the team is part of the role Reid described for himself coming out of it.

“I think it’s kind of, stuff happens,” Reid said. “Like, it’s basketball, it’s any sport. I think when you’re super competitive, that type of stuff happens. And I think me being able to be the person I am, just kind of take accountability and just be able to direct traffic for the team and understand, like, look, stuff like that happens, but it’s how you respond. We gotta be able to take those moments and be accountable, so we can move on to the next situation, so forth, and so on.”

“So I think me and Coach, we’ve been fine since then,” Reid continued. “I think we, you see us talk a lot on the floor. Like, we were able to communicate like nothing happened. It is what it is, but at that moment — but, like, I’m not really too worried about that. So I think just me being able to and him being him, just kind of being able to move past that and just kind of worry about the task at hand.”

Charlotte was up 51-44 at the break on Oct. 28. Reid had played 13 minutes and had 7 points and 6 rebounds on 2-of-6 shooting.

He did not play again that night. Royce O'Neale started the third quarter in his spot, and the Detroit Pistons outscored Charlotte 53-38 after halftime to win 97-89.

Lee never specified what Reid had done.

“Unfortunately, Naz didn’t meet our standards in the first half, and at halftime we made the decision that he wouldn’t play in the second half,” Lee said. “But I look forward to him meeting those standards come next game.”

Boone later reported that Reid and Lee cleared the air after the game. Reid was back in the starting lineup two days later in Washington and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. On Nov. 2, Detroit beat Charlotte again, 124-91, at Spectrum Center. Last week, Lee said Reid had apologized to him and spoken to his teammates.

“We definitely move on. I do not hold grudges,” Lee explained. “That’s not what this is about. He and I had a really good conversation. I felt his genuineness about wanting to move forward and be better from it and grow from it. I think it actually helped our relationship even more that we were able to have another conversation, as much as we had built during the offseason.”

The Detroit loss started a six-game losing streak. Charlotte also dropped games to Washington, Philadelphia, Detroit again, Brooklyn, and Boston before Monday.

Against Cleveland, Reid went 10-of-26 from the field and 4-of-9 from 3-point range. He also had 4 assists and 2 steals.

The Hornets made 23 of their 46 3-point attempts and led by as many as 33 points. Ryan Kalkbrenner grabbed 15 rebounds, 10 of them offensive. Tidjane Salaün scored 14 points and made 3 of his 4 3-point tries.

Charlotte is 4-7.

The Hornets acquired Reid on June 25 in the trade that sent LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota. In his first four games with Charlotte, he scored 20, 17, 23, and 18 points. His debut came Oct. 21 in a 110-103 win at Brooklyn, where he had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 assists.

Charlotte opens a four-game road trip Thursday against the Phoenix Suns. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. ET.