A man sitting at a side table by the window-walled lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia looks through the glass at the hustle and bustle below.
In the fourth game of a six-game East Coast swing, the Lakers will face the Philadelphia 76ers in a game that will be played on a Wednesday afternoon.
They are 2-1 so far, a rare reprieve in a season rife with turmoil. Since he was benched a week ago, Russell's play has improved. The front office considered firing Frank Vogel earlier in the month, but he is still on the sideline.
Monk, who is in his first season with the Lakers, says that anything can happen. I try to take in everything.
The night before, in Brooklyn, Anthony Davis had returned from a six-week absence due to a knee injury, leading the Lakers to a victory and back to.500. Monk, a lightning bolt, led the bench with 22 points on 6-for-12 shooting from 3, while Davis led the defense and James led the offense.
He knows that his rise in Los Angeles has been unexpected. After four uninspiring years in Charlotte, Monk's NBA career was in danger after he came into the league as a lottery selection.
The Lakers signed 12 players to veteran minimum contracts in an attempt to find the right mix of role players after shelling out more than $120 million combined this season to Westbrook, James and Davis.
Six of those players were former Lakers. Nine of those players, including the Lakers returnees, were in their 30s.
Monk fit both categories. He was a flyer, a theoretical gem, and a low-risk free-agency gamble. He was attractive to an old team that lacked shooting skills. The Lakers gave a young player a change of scenery.
Monk says they put a lot of trust in him.
During a Lakers season that has gone wrong, Monk represents something that has gone right. Monk has brought with him consistency and an upside for a franchise looking to maximize what's left of James' final years.
If the Lakers can keep him.
His shaky entrance mirrored the eventual exhibit from Charlotte. He was projected to go outside the top five in the mock draft after a stellar freshman season in which he led the University of Kentucky in scoring.
He moved to the Hornets. The thrill of living out a childhood dream by being picked by Michael Jordan to play on his team was quickly subdued by the grown-up reality of reporting to a coach.
He played just 13.6 minutes per game for the Hornets. Charlotte cleaned the house.
Marcus Monk says that everyone was fired. The person who is the head coach. The assistants. A strength and conditioning coach. A basketball trainer. Everyone was fired.
The brain trust that was invested in Monk's long-term development was gone.
The front office had a late lottery pick with little proof of production when the team retooled.
James Borrego had a lunch meeting with the two boys before he took over as the Hornets' coach.
I was 19 at the time. Monk says that Borrego sold a dream to him that he was going to play. He told me and my brother that I would be the point of the team other than Kemba. He went the other way as soon as the season started. I was never in my right mind from there.
The game logs may explain why. He would have stretches of consistent, efficient scoring followed by stretches filled with empty calories or straight DNPs. After Borrego met with Monk, the Hornets signed Tony Parker, who had traveled from San Antonio to Charlotte with the coach. The role Borrego had presented to Monk was not compatible with the one the future Hall of Famer would have played.
As the season went on, it was more about trying to win games than it was about the younger guys. Marcus says that it happens.
Borrego declined to comment.
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The reputation of Monk continued to grow.
It was always that way, as long as he wasn't late for treatment, he didn't have to do it. I never, never, never knew. Never figured it out.
He admits to letting the circumstances affect his spirit.
He says he didn't put that much effort in Charlotte because he was getting mixed signals. You cannot give 50 percent on something and think you will get 100 percent back.
Then came rock bottom. Monk violated the anti-drug program a couple of weeks before the league went on hiatus. He was out of work.
Monk says he couldn't play basketball. If I could play basketball, I would not be around it. It was terrible for me.
Marcus saw his brother pull himself out.
Monk kept in regular contact with the executive vice president of the National Basketball Players Association and stayed in compliance with the anti-drug program. Marcus ordered a basketball hoop for the young guard so he could get up shots in his front yard.
Marcus thinks he took it for granted because he was so talented. He got the game snatched from him and now he really sees what it means to him, beyond just the status. What it means to him.
Monk was back in June 2020, but the season was over. The third season of Monk was ruined by a drug violation and a worldwide epidemic. The Hornets did not extend Monk's contract after the season. After another disappointing season in which Monk contracted COVID-19 and the franchise turned its attention to LaMelo Ball, Charlotte didn't even tender a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent.
The Charlotte general manager says he is happy for Monk and that there wasn't a future for him here. I am happy for him.
Monk waited for a call three days after the frenzy of free agency ended.
The Dallas Mavericks, New York Knicks and the Lakers were interested in signing him in the summer of 2021, according to his agent.
I was wondering if he could make a few more dollars than a minimum. Schwartz says that he did, but the offers didn't come. It was about finding the right place.
Monk was on the Lakers radar for a long time. Kidd would watch Hornets games with James and tell him about how he tried to trade for Monk when he was a coach.
James said that he and J-Kidd were talking all the time about whether or not there was a way to get this guy from Charlotte's roster.
Monk was scouted by the front office when they were deciding what to do with the second pick. Lonzo Ball was selected by the Lakers.
I remember when UCLA played Kentucky. We were looking at Lonzo and Fox. Rob Pelinka, the Lakers general manager and vice president of basketball operations, says that since then, there has been a player they have tracked.
Pelinka made an offer for a one-year veterans minimum deal. Monk had earned a third of what he did in Charlotte. There was no room for negotiation. It was all the Lakers had to offer.
There was a catch. The Lakers were in need of Monk's answer pronto. L.A. couldn't wait long for Monk to make a decision with so many roster spots to fill.
Monk called Rob back the next day to let him know I was on my way.
Schwartz says that he was disappointed that there was no bigger offers out there, but that sometimes you have to show it for a year.
Monk is shooting 39.4% from 3 and is averaging a career-high 12.9 points per game.
A nice pass from Talen Horton-Tucker is grabbed by Malik Monk, who dunks it with authority.
Pelinka had planned for the trio of Monk, Nunn and Horton-Tucker to be a counterbalance to the rest of his roster. Nunn has not played in a game because of a bone bruise in his knee and Horton-Tucker has not played in a while. Monk has unlocked a youthful duo comprised of himself and Austin Reaves that is important for the older legs in the group.
The combination of Monk and Reaves has been said to have produced by the team.
Monk has the second-best net rating on the team.
Reaves feels like we have a chemistry. It has been a kind of connection that you can't really explain.
Maybe it is the geographical tie, having played against one another in both the regional and state championship as ninth graders.
Monk says that there are two motherf---ers from Arkansas.
Monk says their dialogue is the foundation of their success.
Monk says everything. The wall is rookies. Older guys yelling at rookies because they are to blame. You have to take it because they know everything and when you mess up, you have to take it. You have to deal with that. I talk to Austin a lot.
The Lakers are interested in keeping Reaves and his partner together.
Two nights after a historic 56-point performance, the Lakers defeated Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors in a surprise victory. The heavy workload against Golden State and an exhausting travel day had taken a toll. James had tested it out on the court before the game, but bowed out, leaving Vogel to figure out his replacement.
As the team absorbed the news inside the cramped visitors locker room at the AT&T Center, the thoughts of Vogel turned. He was not thinking of the nine-time All-Star. He was not considering 10-time All-Star Anthony. He wasn't anticipating a big game for Horton-Tucker.
He landed on Monk.
I told him that he had to score 56 tonight, and that I was just kidding. He will try to do that.
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Monk put up a career-high 22 shot attempts but connected on just eight, and the Lakers lost.
It is a duty he has coveted, the consequences of his play directly tied to his team's chances.
Monk said after a win over the Knicks in February that he wanted to do this his whole career.
When called upon, he has mostly delivered. In 17 games this season, Monk has scored 20 or more points.
He can catch fire.
James said Monk has something the Lakers don't.
He said that they haven't had a knockout punch on their roster since he arrived.
Monk is in the lounge in Philadelphia.
He wears a string of pearls around his neck and sometimes has a flat-top haircut that is inspired by the character in the movie "Juice".
On this afternoon, he is the picture of comfort, a man in a hoodie and sweatpants, and a member of a professional basketball team.
He thinks about his hometown of Lepanto, Arkansas, and thinks that his ascension from there serves as a lesson for him.
In the Lakers win, Monk dropped 29 points on 11-of-20 shooting, including seven 3-pointers.
He says that he grew up with 1,200 people in his hometown. This can happen. It is possible for everyone.
He has been surrounded by chaos in Los Angeles, but his decision to join the Lakers has brought him a home. He has relied on both as a teammate and a player. He performs in nationally televised games. He can show his personality after a date with a celebrity. He says his favorite off-court activity is hiking the Hollywood Hills with his dog, Bear.
His short stint as a Laker has begun to repair his reputation, with everyone from James to Pelinka vouching for him.
He wants to let everyone know that Charlotte is not who he really is.
In a few months, the Lakers will ask themselves a question they perhaps never thought they would need to consider: Has Monk played his way out of L.A.?
The Lakers will only be able to re-sign Monk if they offer him 120% of the veteran minimum or use the taxpayer's midlevel exception.
Pelinka says the partnership has been a win for both sides. He is a guy that we would like to see in our future.
Marcus says they are very loyal people. We don't forget about that. It is a business on the other side. I would love to see him in a laker uniform.
Monk would also.
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