- Programming note: Watch Malik Monk's full "Kings Central" interview with Morgan Ragan at 6 p.m. PT on Wednesday on NBC Sports California prior to "Kings Pregame Live."
Behind Malik Monk’s success on the floor this season is his chemistry with Kings teammate and close friend De’Aaron Fox.
Speaking to NBC California’s Morgan Ragan on the latest episode of “Kings Central,” Monk, in the midst of the Kings' push for a spot in the NBA playoffs, explained how his off-court relationship with Fox has translated to on-court success in Sacramento.
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“Yeah, it’s just easier to go out there and play because I know what [De’Aaron Fox] is going to do,” Monk told Ragan. “He knows what I’m going to do. I know where he is going to be at. He knows where I’m going to be at.”
In his second season with the Kings, the 26-year-old is posting career-high numbers, averaging 15.7 points from the floor while adding 5.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds off the bench.
As a result, Monk has powered the Kings to crucial wins and become, arguably, the leading candidate for the Sixth Man Player of the Year Award — and justifiably so.
“Then everybody else, I think, follows around us because our chemistry is so strong,” Monk added. “He says anything to me, I say anything to him. So. I think that’s why anybody can say whatever in the locker room and we are all just comfortable with each other.”
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But Monk’s in-game comfort isn’t only a matter of exclusively benefiting the guard, with other Sacramento bench players, in their own means, shining throughout separate points of the season.
“Definitely,” Monk said. “Because you can call somebody out without them taking it to heart or them taking it personal,” Monk said. “That goes a long way, like you said.”
Overall, the connection between the Kings’ Sixth Man and Fox has trickled down to the rest of Sacramento’s roster, which has counted on its supporting cast as much as it has on stars Fox and Domantas Sabonis during its final regular-season stretch.
As the Kings look to clinch a second consecutive playoff appearance, Sacramento can take all the positive outcomes from the Kentucky connection.