Malik Munch in the Lakers looking for redemption and a sense of home: "Every time he stepped on the court, he almost wanted to kill everyone. ” / Malik Monk finds redemption and home with Lakers: ‘He’s literally trying to kill every time he touches the floor’
Published: February 21, 2021 US time
Publisher: the Athletic
Article by Jovan Buha
Article translated by de Gaulle
On November 10, 2021, with 5 seconds left in the 24-second timer and 2 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game, the Lakers at home still maintained a lead over the Heat.
Russell Westbrook sent the sideline ball and Malik Munch received the pass, at which point his feet were on the edge of the big logo on the Lakers' arena floor. He turned quickly to the left, shrugging off Taylor Hiro, who was defending himself, while also avoiding getting caught in P.J. Tucker's pocket. A simple action pulls out enough room to shoot.
Munch struggled to create more shooting space by jumping toward the left side of his body. With the buzz of the 24-second offensive timer, Munch's body landed right in front of the Heat's away bench. On the other side of the field, the Players on the Lakers bench have all stood up. Seeing this difficult three-point shot by Munch drill into the basket, the entire Lakers bench was "fried", and everyone clapped their hands while shouting to congratulate Munch who ran towards the half.
Although the game is not over, Munch's shot has already made the balance of victory begin to tilt towards the Lakers. The end result was the same, the Lakers, who lacked James, eventually beat the Heat 120-117 to get a crucial victory. Munch, who scored a difficult three-pointer, scored his season-high 27 points. It was also from that goal that many people began to regard Munch as the most trusted helper around the Lakers' big three.
"I played a similar role when Charlotte was playing, and there were a lot of people who were injured," Munch said after that game, "I had to stand up and do something for the team at a critical moment that I wouldn't normally do." I spent a lot of time and effort honing my racing skills, so I was prepared for moments like this. ”
And looking at Munch's performance in the most half of the season since he joined the Lakers, he has done a lot of things that he did not do when he played for the Hornets. He has started, scored key goals and played many games in a row with his stars, contributing meaningful performances. More importantly, Munch had a feeling at the Lakers that he hadn't had in his previous career: being needed by others.
"The Lakers just let me be myself," Munch said, "the team can let me play freely, I play when I play very relaxed, don't have to worry about making mistakes." Even if I do make a mistake, I can walk out on my own. All of them showed great confidence in me. ”
Munch signed to the Lakers on a base-paying contract last summer. Combined with his performances so far, Munch is arguably one of the most cost-effective players in the Lakers' lineup today. Even Anthony Davis couldn't help but praise Munch: "We don't know exactly how we got a player like him. Munch didn't know the answer to that question either. What he knows, though, is that after he came to Los Angeles, everything was so fit and complete.
Munch was born in a small town called Lepando, a city in the south-central U.S. state of Arkansas with a population of just over 1,800 and the vast majority of its residents are "blue-collar" class. Munch grew up in this small town, accompanied by his mother Jackie and his brother Marcus.
In 2004, Marcus graduated from high school. He had three options in front of him: to get a job on a local farm, to find a job at a local factory, or to go to college. Marcus, who was quite athletically talented, chose the third path, continuing to play rugby and basketball while studying at the University of Arkansas. At the 2008 NFL Draft, Marcus was selected in the 7th round, officially starting his career as a professional sports athlete. However, NFL players often have short careers, and Marcus ended his football career early after playing 3 teams and 2 seasons.
Instead, this allowed Marcus to focus on another job for himself. Marcus is 12 years older than his younger brother Malik Munch, and the age gap between the brothers is so large that Marcus is not only Munch's older brother in many cases, but also his coach, trainer and life leader.
"In the face of everything, I always try to guide and educate him with a more practical point of view," Marcus said, "and the same is true of our mother, who doesn't whitewash anything, black is black, white is white." Growing up myself, I had to go through everything on my own. So I tried to use my own experiences to guide him well. ”
For Munch, for a long time, it was very difficult to distinguish his loving and caring brother from a harsh and demanding coach. However, because of the sense of trust that the brothers had cultivated from an early age, they gradually adapted to this relationship. Today, every time Munch finishes a game, the brothers will sit down and review, and Munch will carefully discuss with his brother every idea he has on the court, every shot, every pass angle, every assist and mistake, every defensive rotation.
In this way, Munch has greatly improved and progressed. In high school, Munch became a five-star high school player under the guidance of his brother and eventually entered the basketball school Kentucky. There, Munch grew further and became a new lottery talent in the NBA.
"What really sets Malik apart is the spirit he has during the game," said Munch's coach in Kentucky, Calipari, "he has extraordinary energy and confidence, he feels he can throw any goal." I used to ask him a lot: 'Do you think that's a good shot?' And he would stare at me and say, 'As long as I don't lose or get capped, that's a good choice.' And then I'm going to say, 'Okay, then you keep throwing this way, and I'll see how many of them you can put in.' ’”
Munch's self-confidence, in addition to the cultivation from his brother, can not ignore the power of idols. Growing up, Munch's favorite player was Nick Young, who played equally confidently and unreasonablely. Nick Young's "right arm is not tattooed, focus on shooting" creed, Munch is also following. Whenever he talked about it, Munch would always laugh, as if nothing could bother him.
But even munch, who was so confident, also experienced a great test in the wasps in those years. After selecting Munch with the 11th pick in 2017, the Hornets didn't give him much chance to perform until last summer, when the Hornets let Munch leave Charlotte as a free agent.
It's Time for August 2, 2021 at 6 p.m. EST, which is when the NBA rules for teams to start engaging with free agents. Munch expected that from this moment on, the phone would ring non-stop. Sure enough, just after 6 o'clock, the phone rang, and on the other end of the phone was Pelinka, the vice president and general manager of the Lakers, who issued an invitation to Join Munch on behalf of the Lakers.
Munch was very happy to receive a call from Pelinka, who had always felt that the Lakers were his ideal place to go. His older brother Marcus had become Munch's agent by this time, and he had given his younger brother a "warning" to be prepared that there would not be too many teams calling him on this day. Sure enough, after hanging up Pelinka's phone, Munch was greeted by a long silence.
This happened because Munch had a very bad final season with the Hornets. In the 2019-20 season, Munch was sentenced to an "indefinite ban" for violating the league's drug ban. Later, because the new crown epidemic interrupted the season, Munch was only banned for 8 games. However, the Hornets did not extend Munch's qualification offer before the start of the 2020-21 season, and with the intermittent playing time throughout the 2020-21 season, Munch realized that he was no longer in the Hornets' future plans.
So, he pinned all his hopes on the summer of 2021, and he has decided to leave Charlotte and find his place on another team. As a result, in addition to the Lakers' phone calls, the team that contacted him was the only Dallas Lone Ranger. The result overwhelmed Munch at one point because he felt he wasn't doing well in the 2020-21 season. Obviously, that ban had a big impact on his image.
In such a situation, the Lakers' chase of him seems so enthusiastic. Munch also told the Lakers at the beginning that he wanted to wait and see if any other team gave him more offers. As a result, Lakers head coach Vogel and home coach James have contacted him successively and continued to invite him.
"I told LeBron that I wanted to wait until the next day to see if there was any other option," Munch recalled, "XX, and I didn't wait for anything." So I called the Lakers the next day and told them, 'I'm coming.' ’”
Marcus also felt that the situation of his brother was very unfair. "A lot of teams don't know all the information and what kind of person he is," Marcus said of his brother, "but if I were the management of those 29 teams, I would see it that way, so I don't blame them." Everything happens for a reason, and if it hadn't happened, he wouldn't be in this mindset right now. Nowadays, every time he plays, he really wants to kill all four parties. Because he felt that the other 29 teams would have signed him. ”
Whether the Lakers are really discerning or forced to be helpless, in short, they chose Munch's signing and got a good return. Today, Munch has not only become an indispensable member of the team on the tactical level, but also the person in the dressing room who is loved by his teammates.
As of now, Munch's averages in points per game (13.0), rebounds (3.3), assists (2.4), assists (0.7), shooting percentage (47.1%), true shooting percentage (60.0%), two-point shooting rate (56.0%) and playing time (27.1) have all created career peaks. In addition, he has played 18 starts in 51 games this season, which is more than the number of starts he has accumulated in the Hornets in his previous four seasons.
Although the Lakers' performance is not good, no one can say that Munch's performance did not meet expectations. In fact, the Lakers' favor for Munch has begun as early as the 2020-21 season. Team management had tried to get him on a deal with the Hornets before the 2021 deal deadline. "I know they really want him (Munch) to join," Marcus said, "and I've seen a big change in his attitude after he came here." He's really, really happy now, so for me, I'm happy to see my brother happy. ”
In addition to the trust that the Lakers have given him, another major driving force for Munch's improvement this season is James' trust in him. During the key periods of some games of the Lakers, Munch and James can often be seen frequently launching blocks, and there are good effects. According to Munch, since he joined the Lakers, James has always maintained close communication with him, whether it is in the game or in training, Munch can always hear James chanting a sentence to him: "Listen, Malik, we need you to be yourself, we need you to play tough, this is your best side." ”
Of course, spiritual improvement cannot completely replace physical effort. After gaining the confidence given by the team and James, Munch also learned the technique and the way of playing from many of the league's best players. He watched the video of Richard Hamilton and Brandon Roy repeatedly, delving into their steps, rhythms, and how they played after the break. He also looked for videos of James playing in the Heat and Cavaliers playing the Finals, to learn the playing style of James' outside partners, Wade and Irving, to learn how to better integrate with James on the court.
Such a double improvement makes Munch's progress obvious. In many games, he even replaced Wei Shao as the third big man of the Lakers. According to statistics, in the 10 games in which Munch scored at least 22 points, the Lakers achieved a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. Many times, Munch's play on the offensive end has become a barometer of whether the Lakers can win. It is also his performance that has transformed the voices that questioned him a year ago into praise, and also allowed him to have a brighter future in the future offseason.
Munch admits that he also thinks about his future with the team from time to time. For him, he loves the team he plays for, as well as his teammates, coaches and the city. If possible, he wished he could stay here for a long time.
"If I say I haven't thought about the future, I'm lying," Munch said, "and I like to play here." But in the NBA, you never know what's going to happen in the future, it's a business ground after all. One thing I'm sure of is that I really enjoy playing here. It's just that it's hard to predict the future, and I don't know what the future holds. ”
With last year's offseason experience, Munch understood a truth, that is, never predict what kind of action and decision a team will make in the free agent market. After working with the Lakers for more than half a season, Munch's personal value has been greatly improved, and the Lakers have also gained a lot because of his personal play. In such a situation, Munch and the Lakers may cherish each other more and may be able to continue to walk hand in hand this summer.