Recent comments from Malik Monk paints the Lakers in a horrible light

Perhaps the only bright spot out of the Los Angeles Lakers this season has been Malik Monk. No other team wanted Monk and the team was able to sign him on a minimum contract. For better or worse, Monk has been the third-best player on the Lakers, and second-best when Anthony Davis is out.

Monk has really seemed to enjoy his time with the Lakers with his agent even saying that he wants Monk to stay with the Lakers forever (not the best bargaining tool). However, the downside of Monk’s breakout year with the Lakers is that he might price himself out of LA this offseason.

While Monk seems to be enjoying himself in LA, his latest comments about the dynamic of the team paints the Lakers in a horrible light. Dave McMenamin of ESPN recently featured Monk in an article. Monk explained the dynamic of the locker room and how that has resulted in him bonding with Austin Reaves to McMenamin and it does not sound like a fun time.

"“Older guys yelling at the rookies because it’s their fault. Everything they do, it’s your fault out there because they know everything and you don’t and when you mess up, you just got to take it. You got to deal with things like that. I talk to Austin almost every day.”"

Hats off to Monk taking it like a champ and owning that he is still a young player in this league and that he does not know everything. Veteran players putting younger players in check for their success is absolutely a healthy thing for young NBA players.

However, with how disjointed this season has been, this seems more like placing blame on the reasons for failure instead of trying to elevate a young player. Plus, there is one thing that bothers me about this quote more than anything else.

Nobody but LeBron James and Anthony Davis have the right to yell and blame Malik Monk and the young Lakers.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the only players on the Lakers roster that should have the luxury of yelling at a younger player to try and improve the team. Sure, there are a lot of veterans on the team with expertise, but why should the young players listen to them?

What has Russell Westbrook accomplished in this league when it pertains to team success? He had made it out of the first round exactly once without Kevin Durant. Sure, he won an MVP because he piled up the box scores on a mediocre Thunder team. But what does Westbrook know about winning and also being a selfless teammate?

Carmelo Anthony is a future Hall of Famer but what has he won in this league? Every young player should respect Melo but if he is yelling and blaming the young players for the team’s lack of success then he is barking up the wrong tree.

Dwight Howard would have went ring-less if it was not for LeBron James and then you have the guys like Wayne Ellington, Kent Bazemore and Avery Bradley, who have been glorified role players in their careers and definitely deserve a lot of the blame for the team being as bad as it is.

Here is a fun fact for you: while the veteran players on the team yell and blame the young players, those same young players are the most impactful to the team’s success outside of LeBron and AD.

Austin Reaves has the best on-off net rating of the entire team at +8.6. You know who is second at +7.3? Malik Monk.