The Charlotte Hornets stand at 14-13—currently good enough for the No. 6 spot in the East playoffs—and have had a positive season so far under new head coach James Borrego. The franchise has managed to avoid any serious embarrassments in 2018-19, sans a blowout loss to the lowly Cavaliers. But Hornets second-year guard Malik Monk supplied us with the first meme-worthy moment of the year for Charlotte.
After completing a tough comeback effort—Charlotte outscored the Pistons by 12 in the 4th quarter—the Hornets sealed their win over Detroit with a big-time jump shot from Jeremy Lamb.
But before the Hornets could really enjoy their victory, they were hit with a technical foul for too many players on the floor. And if you look closely, you can easily spot a very excited Monk running on to the floor before the shot goes down.
Due to the tech, the Pistons were given a technical free throw to cut the deficit to one point. And that is when owner (and GOAT) Michael Jordan let the youngster know how he felt about his negligence:
The Hornets got a steal in the closing moments from Nic Batum to hold on to a 108-107 victory, so no harm, no foul. But Monk came dangerously close to ruining the first buzzer-beater of Lamb's NBA career.
Monk will surely save his excitement for the locker room in the future, as there is no guarantee he will be quick enough to dodge the long arm of Jordan again.