The Charlotte Hornets aren’t off to the best possible start to the ongoing NBA season, but a 108-107 win over the Pistons ensured that they moved upto 6th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
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The game against the Pistons was a very closely fought one, as the two teams are so closely stacked up against each other that neither wanted to give the other even an inch.
Hornets had taken a 108-106 lead with 0.3 seconds left on the clock. A Jeremy Lamb jumper had meant that the Hornets had the game in the bag, before Malik Monk’s moment of madness struck them.
As soon as Lamb hit that two pointer, the Hornets bench jumped in unison, with Michael Jordan too letting his emotions out.
But not many would have expected Malik Monk to actually rush onto the court to celebrate with Lamb.
A timeout wasn’t called and hence a technical was awarded to Malik Monk. Pistons had a free throw and then had 0.3 seconds on the clock to win the game.
While the Pistons weren’t quite able to win the game from thereon, Michael Jordan ensured that the kid learnt his lesson, when he gave him a smack on the back of his head, not once, but twice(Jordan missed the first time actually).
Check out the video:
#Hornets owner Michael Jordan wasn’t too happy with Malik Monk after he ran onto the court before the game was over and got called for a technical 😭😂@WCCBCharlotte pic.twitter.com/575UlSeZNz
— Zach Aldridge (@wzaldridge) December 13, 2018
The duo then shared a laugh together, but had the Pistons won, scenes would have been different in the Hornets camp. And maybe, just maybe, Jordan wouldn’t have resorted to just that little smack on the back of Monk’s head.
With this win, the Horners would be hoping to get some momentum going into the holiday season.
Hornets are 14-13 currently and sit in 6th place in the Eastern Conference. They will need to play out of their skins in the next few games to ensure that they are in contention for a playoff spot during the business end of the season.
Twitter came up with some brilliant stuff after the incident had occurred.
Michael Jordan when he sees Malik Monk in public pic.twitter.com/lDoduVhQCQ
— Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) December 13, 2018
Imagine your boss is Michael Jordan, and imagine he's angry enough to hit you: https://t.co/gmKuuVzQR6 pic.twitter.com/lQTl9HKzZ0
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) December 13, 2018
Michael Jordan went Full Disappointed Dad Mode on Malik Monk, smacking him upside the head after Monk picked up a silly tech for running on the court too soon to celebrate Jeremy Lamb's game-winner. pic.twitter.com/nOKDczgHxt
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) December 13, 2018
The 🐐 Michael Jordan slaps his players after picking up bad fouls 😂
Exactly how sports should be.pic.twitter.com/O8YKlc9wsQ
— 888sport (@888sport) December 13, 2018
Lmaoo 😂😂 Michael Jordan 👋🏿smacked the hell out of Malik Monk 😭 You know Malik was tweakin lmao pic.twitter.com/Mde31Z1J2s
— VERSACEBOYENT (@VersaceBoyEnt2) December 13, 2018
Is the old school way of owners/managers/coaches treating players the best way to go about it, where a little slap here or there not becoming a cause of concern or rift between the duo?