Kings Notes: Monk, Achiuwa, Westbrook, Christie

Speaking to Sean Cunningham of KCRA News after Thursday’s loss to New Orleans (Twitter video link), Kings guard Malik Monk admitted 2025/26 has been “probably the craziest year of my career.” Like several veterans on the roster, Monk’s name came up in several trade rumors leading up to last month’s deadline, but he ultimately stayed put.

“It’s up and down,” Monk said. “And of course we losing games too so that makes it even worse.”

When asked if the tumultuous nature of the season has prepared him for “almost anything at this point,” Monk heartily agreed.

“Hell yeah,” Monk said. “It can’t get no worse than this. … It can prepare you for anything. The young guys are learning a lot, the vets are trying to teach them.”

Monk told Cunningham he had a simple individual goal for the remainder of the season.

“Get through healthy,” Monk said. “Just get through this s–t, man. Get to the summer time.”

Here’s more from Sacramento:

• The play of forward/center Precious Achiuwa has been a bright spot for a Kings team which has the worst record (14-50) in the NBA, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The former first-round pick, who signed with Sacramento in early November after being waived by the Heat prior to the start of ’25/26, tied his career highs with 29 points and five assists on Thursday while also contributing 12 rebounds. Achiuwa, a six-year veteran, has played some of the best basketball of his career over the past eight games. “There’s a level of energy that he brings, and when he does that on a consistent basis, he changes a lot of different things,” head coach Doug Christie said. “He’s a grown man, rebounds, driving, running the floor, his physicality on defense. Maybe the biggest thing was I didn’t really realize was how versatile he is defensively. He’s guarded point guards, but he can also guard (centers).”
• Point guard Russell Westbrook fired back at media members for their criticism of the team following Thursday’s loss, as Cunningham of KCRA News relays (Twitter video link). Westbrook declined to go into specifics and said he wasn’t upset about criticism of him personally, but rather his teammates and the organization at large.
• At his own post-game press conference, Christie said he didn’t pay attention to media coverage of the team, preferring to focus on his doing his job and not external distractions (Twitter video link via Cunningham). Christie said the team was understandably frustrated with its results this season. “We’re all frustrated,” he said. “We want to win games. There’s just the short stints where you drop the rope. You don’t box out. You allow second-chance points. You close out with your hand down.”