Barnes believes Monk’s poster dunk vs. Jazz was best of Kings career originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
One game into the 2023-24 NBA season, Malik Monk might already have locked up the Dunk of the Year.
OK, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. But Kings veteran forward Harrison Barnes does believe the poster dunk Monk threw down in Sacramento’s season-opening win over the Utah Jazz is up there amongst Monk’s all-time dunks.
“That was ridiculous. That was ridiculous,” Barnes said after the game. “We were talking. I didn’t think he was going to dunk it. [De’Aaron] Fox was saying he was thinking about throwing it off the glass. It was just all these things going on.
“But Malik’s had some good posters in a Sacramento Kings uniform and that was probably his best one.”
With less than a minute to go in the third quarter, Fox stole the ball from Jazz guard Kris Dunn and a two-on-one fastbreak opportunity arose for Fox and Monk, former college teammates at Kentucky, against Dunn.
And with the chemistry and athleticism that the two Kings guards have, it’s best to just get out of the way. Dunn learned that the hard way.
As Fox led the way, Monk followed him closely behind. Fox passed the ball backward toward Monk who took flight and threw down a mean poster dunk over Dunn. And of course, Monk had to flex all over Dunn as the Delta Center crowd erupted just as much as the Kings bench did.
Monk was asked about his thoughts on the dunk after Kings practice on Thursday. He agreed with Barnes’ assessment that it was the best dunk he’s had in the NBA so far, but added that it was “normal” and something he’s been doing since high school.
His ranking of the dunk? A seven.
If that’s a seven, maybe — just maybe — he’ll unleash a 10 at some point this season. And if so, Kings fans are in for a treat.