Someone with a winning spirit and an edge to his game, Knueppel has already shown the Charlotte fans that they can rely on him moving forward.
Kon Knueppel has waited for this moment his whole life.
A basketball historian at heart with an insatiable love for the game, he found himself in the perfect place when taking the next step at the next level.
Give him a place where he can be one of the top options on a struggling team, and let him carry the franchise back to relevancy.
From his high school playing days, it was clear that Knueppel was a winner – through and through.
In 2023-24, he secured the Gatorade Wisconsin Player of the Year, Wisconsin’s Mr. Basketball, the State Championship with Wisconsin Lutheran, while leading that team to an undefeated 30-0 record.
Apart from his achievements on the hardwood, he also maintained a 3.93 GPA, and was a member of the Chick Fil-A Leadership Academy, as well as the Student Council.
That’s why Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils fawned over him so much, and recruited him heavily.
They likely knew it was a one-and-done situation, and the ability to pair him up with the nation’s top recruit in Cooper Flagg was too tantalizing to pass up on.
In his one year at Duke, even more awards piled up in his trophy case. He was voted All-Region, All-ACC, All-ACC Tourney, and All-Freshman. Not just that, he was also awarded the ACC Tournament MVP, while helping Duke secure the ACC Championship and an appearance to the Final Four.
Everywhere he goes, winning follows. Just ask his coach with the Charlotte Hornets, Charles Lee.
"He truly has just a winning spirit to him. A winning mindset. Anything that he can do to help impact the game.”
Knueppel doesn’t have the prototypical look. He’s not overly athletic, and won’t blow you away with any highlight plays. He’s just a player that sees the game at an extremely high level, and can drain buckets from anywhere on the floor.
His ability to connect with Hornets centerpieces Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball have been crucial to Charlotte’s overall growth this season.
"When Melo and Brandon are out there, it's good to have him as your second-side guy who's a great threat to either be able to catch-and-shoot or, if we don't have that initial action to score off, ... he can create one," Lee said. "I think with his ability to screen in a lot of different ways and then also to be able to handle it in the pick-and-roll, it gives us another person we can play through when one of those guys are out.”
Knueppel wasn’t a major playmaker in his lone season at Duke, averaging only 2.7 assists per game, with a season high of eight on two separate occasions.
But since coming to the NBA and having more skill players around him, he’s dished the rock out a lot more than we’re used to seeing.
Just last week against the Chicago Bulls, not only did he post a career-high 33 points, but also had a career high nine assists, while making five of 12 3-pointers.
Lee added, “He's just got great activity and instincts. He wants to be all over the place. He understands the importance of trying to disrupt the other team any way he possibly can.”
A player like that has the potential to become one of the faces of the franchise don’t you think?
In a report a few weeks back, the Hornets already view Knueppel as the face of the franchise.
Perhaps it’s a bit premature to label a 20-year-old with just 28 NBA games under his belt the face of a historically struggling franchise, but Knueppel has proven to handle it.
He’s a winner at heart, and the “face of the franchise” is just a mere label.