

The Charlotte Hornets are 7-3 over their last 10 games behind the stellar play of LaMelo Ball and Kon Knueppel.
Muggsy Bogues, the Hornets icon who played for the franchise in the '90s, has enjoyed watching Charlotte's resurgence and is a big fan of Ball and Knueppel.
"He's a gym rat boy," Bogues said about Ball, via Athlon Sports. "He just loves playing the game. You can see his eyes out there when he was a kid. His game hasn't changed much, but his IQ has, and I think the game has slowed down for him tremendously. He understands the importance of getting everybody involved as opposed to just himself.
"Melo's got the height, so his game is different. We kind of look at him as more like a Penny Hardaway, Magic Johnson and that sort of thing. But he's more of a scoring point guard. LaMelo likes to score but he's still got the vision of making the guys around him better."
When asked about Knueppel, here's what Bogues said: "He's one of those steady guys. It's hard to kind of put him in a box to see who exactly comes to mind. I don't want to say a Dan Majerle or somebody like that. But Mark Price, he's got that shot just like a Mark Price. Even though he's bigger than Mark, but he moves and can explode off the dribble as well. Kon's just a guy with his own type of challenge. I just love seeing his rookie season, how he's been.
"Kon can shoot the ball. He doesn't emulate any type of players moving on the floor. Kon is creating his own lane. He's creating his own way. He's a different type of play. He's about 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, and can put the ball on the floor. He just shoots it. He's not just a guy that can catch and shoot 3s. He's a three-tier type of scorer, mid-range, downhill, as well as 3-pointers. I love the future."
Ball is averaging 19.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game this season while shooting 40.1% from the field, 36.7% from beyond the arc and 89.5% from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, Knueppel is putting up 19.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game and shooting 48.7% from the floor, 43.5% from 3 and 89.1% from the foul line. The Duke product leads the NBA in 3-pointers.
With Ball and Knueppel leading the way, the future looks bright in Charlotte for the first time in a long, long time.
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