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NBA DRAFT 2017June 22, 2017Malik MonkBrooklyn, New York Q. Malik, can you start out with an opening statement about what you'll bring to the Hornets? MALIK MONK: Oh, yeah. A winner. I'm a winner. Always trying to win. Do the best I can to win and knock down open shots, any shot I can get, all the clutch shots. I try to make the best, and I'm going to learn, learn from the vets and listen to the coach and try to be the best player and best listener and learner ever. Q. You were drafted by the Hornets. They have a great scorer in Kemba Walker. You're also a great scorer. How excited are you to play with someone that scores the ball as well as Kemba Walker? MALIK MONK: I'm just excited to play basketball, but being with him, too, I watched him a lot in college when he was with UConn and modeled some of my stuff after his game - I got the stepback from him. So I'm just thankful to be in this situation, and hopefully it'll work out good. Q. Did you think the Knicks might take you at 8? And was it at all disappointing that you kind of fell to 11? MALIK MONK: I actually thought the Knicks would take me, but nothing is disappointing about getting drafted. This has been my dream forever, and nobody ever from my town ever been drafted, ever made it this far, so I'm just thankful to be here. Q. Do you think this will give you a chip on your shoulder at the next level? MALIK MONK: For sure. (Laughter). Q. Why? MALIK MONK: I can't tell my secrets. Q. Malik, you go play next to Kemba, a team that desperately needs three-point shooting, Dwight Howard has already been on Twitter saying you're a great addition. How do you feel about kind of the environment you've just found yourself in? MALIK MONK: Yeah, everybody is comfortable. Michael Jordan is the GOAT, and he's with Charlotte, and I'm going to learn a lot from him, and everybody -- like I said, everybody is comfortable. Kemba is comfortable because he's with my agency. I talked to him before, and everybody is comfortable, just like me. So I'm just ready to get to work. Q. Is there an NBA player that you try to model your game off of? MALIK MONK: When I was younger I watched a lot of Russell Westbrook, but I really don't model my game after anybody now. Q. As you mentioned Michael Jordan is there. How exciting is it for you to be able to learn from the greatest player of all time who also plays your position, and how much do you think that will add to your game? MALIK MONK: I still can't believe it right now. I still can't believe it. Maybe tomorrow I'll believe it. But I think he'll teach me a lot and I'll take an even bigger step each year. Each year I'm going to try to learn as much as I can from him. Q. Do you have any goals or expectations for yourself in your rookie season? MALIK MONK: Like I said, learn, learn a lot. But I'm trying to be Rookie of the Year, get to the Rookie Game and All-Star Weekend. It's a lot of goals I'm going to set. Q. Your owner is still pretty competitive. Do you think he's going to challenge you to a one-on-one game when you get down there? And if so, are you going to do the political thing or are you going to try to beat him? MALIK MONK: I'm going to beat him. (Laughter). Q. What town are you from? MALIK MONK: Lepanto, Arkansas. It's Northeast Arkansas. It's close to Memphis, like 30 minutes from Memphis. Q. So it's not far from Little Rock? MALIK MONK: Yeah, it's like an hour and a half, two hours from little rock. Q. Have you ever met Bill Clinton? MALIK MONK: I actually haven't, no. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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