“Monk Robbed”: Fans In Anger as Naz Reid Wins NBA 6th Man Of The Year Award Over Kings’ Injured Star

The NBA’s season awards, at least the two that have been handed out now, have been one of much contention. Tyrese Maxey, the Philadelphia 76ers’ stellar guard, received the Most Improved Player honor yesterday. Many believed the award should have gone to Coby White. And they had taken to X to showcase their disapproval. It seems the Sixth Man of the Year is also the subject of debate. Minnesota Timberwolves‘ Naz Reid received the award, and he edged out popular choice Malik Monk by just two points!

The injured Kings’ star has been associated with the award for some time now. And this time around, seeing how Reid ended up being the winner, fans were unhappy. This Sacramento fan, for example, was greatly offended at the slight. “Monk got robbed. League stays disrespecting the kings.” Notably, in the voting table, Reid and Monk were the only ones that mattered. They got the most support, getting equal numbers for 2nd and 3rd place votes (39 & 10).

The 24-year-old Wolves star had 45 points for the first place while Malik got 43. And the total points come to 352 for Reid and 342 for Monk. The 6’9 Minnesota center’s honor comes with a few exceptions. He is the first Wolves player to win a Sixth Man, not to mention the third undrafted player in league history to make it. His predecessors were John Starks (1996-97) and Darrell Armstrong (1998-99).

More importantly, though, Naz Reid was key for a team where one of its superstars had gone under with injury. When Karl-Anthony Towns was sidelined, the LSU product, Naz Reid, stepped up in a big way. He is one reason they finished the season with the third-best record in the league and second-best in the West (56-26).

Yet, none of this dissuades Malik Monk and Kings fans from posting their dislike.

Naz Reid goes super-viral after winning over Malik Monk!

Monk’s injury played a role in Reid getting that opening, which paved the way for his Sixth Man award. And it would seem this Kings fan wanted to put it out there. “Malik monk getting hurt sold himself,” he said. Another fan, though, is just not ready to be comforted. Or at least that’s what his comment portrays. “Should have been Malik Monk.” 

Almost like when you try and produce all the facts and the opposite person is still stuck to his argument despite everything pointing otherwise. But in this case, one could argue that Monk was equally deserving. This next remark would prove he would provide more than enough evidence to prove his argument. “So malik monk doesn’t exist?”

Finally, this person just expressed his disdain quite simply. “WTF? Seriously..?”. An NBA faithful also had a suggestion to make, saying, “Deserved, now @lakers sign this man”. The spotlight is currently very much on LeBron James and Co. after their subpar regular season, coming scaringly close to not even making it to play-ins. Could Naz Reid be the key to their success next season?

However, it wasn’t all hate and anger in the comments section. Some people supported this verdict too and kept their personal biases aside to congratulate Reid. One of them wrote, “Took a slight pay cut, stayed loyal, plays an important role, responsible for team success”. A few admirers from his college basketball days also showered him with some love in the comments.

Well, there is no calming the “Beam Team” family. But the Timberwolves couldn’t be happier!