Charlotte Hornets: Malik Monk a stealth Dunk Contest option

Charlotte Hornets rookie Miles Bridges will be in this years NBA Dunk Contest, and his teammate Malik Monk deserves consideration as well.

Two teammates in the Dunk Contest? That would be fun, wouldn’t it? I know I’d love to see both Miles Bridges and Malik Monk of the Charlotte Hornets flying high on All-Star weekend.

The last time that two teammates participated in the Dunk Contest together was in 2005. J.R. Smith and Chris Andersen, who were both with the New Orleans Hornets at the time, were in the event. They both ended up losing to Josh Smith of the Atlanta Hawks.

While I highly doubt that Monk will end up competing in the Dunk Contest this year, he does at the very least deserve some consideration. He’s had some real exciting slams this year, including this one against the Orlando Magic earlier this season.

That was one fierce tomahawk, sheesh.

Anyway, Monk didn’t come into the league with a reputation of being a top-tier dunker like Miles Bridges has. While I always knew Monk had athletic ability, I personally always seemed to grasp onto his natural scoring ability. The guy’s a walking bucket.

Yes, I’m aware that Monk did win a Dunk Contest when he was in high school, but during his lone season at Kentucky, that scoring prowess I mentioned before was the biggest takeaway when scouting him, in my opinion. He has a chance to be a big time scorer in this league.

The young duo of Monk and Bridges are surely exciting Charlotte Hornets fans. While coming off of the bench, it feels like they are producing some highlight plays on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, the two connected on an alley-oop last game vs Indiana.

Watching them play, you can tell that they are developing a nice amount of chemistry together. As long as they keep working, the sky is the limit for both players.

Obviously, the dunks are nice, but it’s nice to see that both players are focusing on other aspects of their games in order to improve and earn more minutes. Monk’s defense has definitely looked better this year as a sophomore, and Bridges is slowly learning when to attack and finish, along with adding a corner three-point shot to his arsenal.

Like I said earlier, I’m not expecting Monk to get into the Dunk Contest. However, I do expect both Monk and Bridges to play in the Rising Stars game, where the best first and second year players square off in a USA vs World battle.

Monk and Bridges have both played well enough this season to earn a spot on Team USA, in my opinion.

The Charlotte Hornets figure to be represented very nicely during All-Star weekend in Charlotte. You will very likely see Monk, Bridges and, of course, All-Star Kemba Walker throughout the event.