The Sacramento veteran has noticeably become underused by Doug Christie. Monk finally spoke out about the situation.
Doug Christie placed his trust in Dennis Schroeder to cap the Sacramento Kings comeback against the Houston Rockets. But by playing Schroeder, the head coach kept Malik Monk on the bench.
Sunday wasn't the only case of Monk not earning minutes either. The veteran noticeably hasn't earned minutes under Christie.
Monk finally broke his silence on the mysterious benching, speaking with Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee on Monday.
“He just told me he’s trying something new,” Monk said to Anderson. “That’s basically it, and I said, ‘Yeah, OK, I’ll be ready whenever my name is called.'"
Still, Monk admits being "one thousand percent" confused by the benching. Yet is choosing to take the high road.
"It’s not my job to try to figure out why I’m not playing because I deem myself more than the whole, so I’ll just be ready when my name is called," Monk said to Anderson. "I’ve been in the league long enough where I don’t let this stuff get to me."
However, Monk isn't in the NBA to simply sit and wait his turn.
“Everybody knows I want to be out there, especially playing in front of this crowd in Sac, but there ain’t s--- I can do about it,” Monk said.
The 27-year-old shooting guard is witnessing a dip in his scoring production -- dropping from 17.2 points per game to 12.5. Monk has scored a combined two points in the last three games...earning five minutes of action total.
He once earned 27 minutes of action against the Minnesota Timberwolves -- coming on Dec. 14. Monk even scored 16 against the T-Wolves and 18 the previous game against the Denver Nuggets.
Meanwhile, what's Christie's reaction to the rather questionable move?
"You can’t play everybody. It’s just the nature of what it is,” Christie said to reporters. “This isn’t participation. It’s professional sports, and right now we have a logjam, but everyone is in play."
He also added how competitive the league can get especially when it comes to figuring out rotations.
“If someone isn’t playing great, there’s a really good chance someone else is going to play," Christie said. "If someone isn’t playing to our standard of competitiveness, of all the different things that we value, then obviously there’s a strong possibility that they’re going to come out of the game.”
Perhaps these words reveal that Monk isn't playing to the standards Christie laid out. Regardless, Monk's benching has perplexed fans and analysts.