NEW YORK \u2014 I was in the Charlotte Hornets\u2019 locker room before Monday\u2019s game against the Brooklyn Nets and bumped into a reporter I knew. Before long, somehow, we began discussing ex-Net Derrick Favors and his 2010 draft class from which he was picked third overall and were trying to remember who went second between Favors and top pick John Wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvan Turner,\u201d blurted a voice from the corner. It wasn\u2019t a PR staffer or a wizened assistant coach or even one of the few Hornets veterans, such as Turner\u2019s former teammate Mason Plumlee. No, this ball-knower was 20-year-old Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, who was (checks notes) 4 years old when the Philadelphia 76ers selected Turner.<\/p>\n
That scene gives you one glimpse into a basketball junkie from a basketball family, one whose parents were players themselves and whose dad still runs an invite-only, no-pigs-allowed pickup run in Milwaukee, where you get the boot if you don\u2019t play the right way. (A younger Kon played in that league in eighth grade and through high school, which he said allowed him to adjust to adult physicality more quickly. More importantly, he said he never gave in to youthful rebellion and violated dad\u2019s rules to go one-on-five.)<\/p>\n
Tales of Knueppel\u2019s basketball wholesomeness have made the rounds by now: how the whole team came to his family\u2019s home for dinner when the Hornets recently played in Milwaukee, with one of his younger brothers reportedly\u00a0attempting to posterize a startled LaMelo Ball; or how 2,000 people from his high school basketball league came to see the Hornets play the Bucks that night (they even canceled their games!); or how he\u2019s just as committed as pops to playing the right way at both ends.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s only a small part of the story and would be a relatively dull one if he weren\u2019t also incredibly good at basketball. You can go to the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and find 50 people who can recite the 2010 NBA Draft order backward; alas, none of them are averaging 18.3 points per game while shooting 41.7 percent from 3 in their rookie season. Knueppel has been so good that he\u2019s put genuine pressure on former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg in the Rookie of the Year race and seems all but a shoo-in for first-team All-Rookie.<\/p>\n
The fourth pick in the 2025 draft, Knueppel not only leads all rookies in scoring, but his 5.7 boards per game have him shockingly close to Flagg\u2019s output (6.6). He\u2019s done it efficiently, too: Of the nine rookies who have mustered double-figure scoring averages, Knueppel\u2019s 62.2 true shooting percentage laps the field.<\/p>\n
Those shooting percentages point to Knueppel\u2019s obvious skill as a marksman; in addition to the 3s, he\u2019s hitting 89.8 percent from the line, and his pregame routine of firing lasers off movement from all over the court makes it pretty clear that it is not a small-sample fluke. Underlying that skill set, however, is a strength and physicality that has allowed his game to translate well (and quickly) inside the arc, too.<\/p>\n
In addition to the surprise rebounding numbers, Knueppel is shooting 54.5 percent from inside the arc, and his ability to nudge aside defenders is a big key to his effectiveness in the paint. Once he gets a shoulder past you, you\u2019re cooked.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s subtle in this next clip, but watch how his off arm keeps Ziaire Williams at bay while he drives into the paint and gets off a nifty reverse finish Monday against the Nets:<\/p>\n
That skill was something Hornets coaches noticed right away.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven during his pre-draft workout, it was one of the things I saw as he did defensive drills,\u201d Hornets coach Charles Lee said. \u201cSometimes, his ability to move laterally, you were like, \u2018I don\u2019t know.\u2019 But every time somebody started to put the ball down, he\u2019d try to find a way to put a hand on him or use his chest or use his body. So, he definitely relies on his physicality on both ends of the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch here as one of the most physical guards in the league, the New York Knicks\u2019 Jalen Brunson, tries to play bumper cars with Knueppel and ends up shooting an off-balance shot that leaves him behind the stanchion:<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s a big part of my game,\u201d the 6-foot-6 Knueppel said of his thicker build and physicality. \u201cI\u2019m a stronger guy, a bigger kid. So, being able to use my body in that way, I think, is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
And yet, Knueppel feels like he can still improve a lot at mastering the little bumps that can give him more separation off the dribble.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m very good at it,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like there are guys that are very good, like Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander]\u2019s very good at getting to his midrange with his off arm. Playing against Coby White, he was very good at getting his arm below you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knueppel then launched into the dangers of getting the off arm too high and generating offensive fouls and how a low angle is key. (He\u2019s picked up only two offensive fouls all season.)<\/p>\n
In fact, talking to Knueppel about how he can improve ends up in a word-gusher about different finishing methods he\u2019s learning and mastering the new liberties he can take with his gather step that would have been traveling calls in colleges.<\/p>\n