Kon Knueppel might be the best rookie in the NBA this season, but the Charlotte Hornets could have a problem on the horizon: He wants to win too badly. Now, at first read, that sounds silly. Every player wants to win. And it’s a great thing for the Hornets organization that they have a player who values winning as much as Knueppel does. But they haven’t exactly done a lot of winning in recent years.
In fact, the last time the Hornets were an above-500 team was the 2021-22 season. That was also the last time they won 30 or more games, which is a pretty brutal streak for them to be on.
If Knueppel wants to win basketball games, Charlotte needs to change something very quickly, because if the Hornets don’t help Knueppel win, he may want to go somewhere that will.
Hornets need to help Kon Knueppel win
The Hornets haven’t made the playoffs since the 2015-16 season. During Kemba Walker’s entire eight-year career in Charlotte, he only made the playoffs twice, and once was as a Bobcat. LaMelo Ball has never been to the postseason.
Knueppel doesn’t like losing basketball games. Obviously, no one likes losing, but Knueppel really doesn’t like losing. (Quote below via Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer)
“Yeah, it was unacceptable,” said Kon Knueppel, who paced the Hornets with 18 points. “Really disappointing. Came out and we got stood up a little bit by them trapping LaMelo (Ball) at halfcourt and we didn’t play with pace and we didn’t get enough stops. “Turnovers killed us again. It’s frustrating when we come out and don’t play the same way. I can live with losing games, winning games. But you’re playing a certain style, the style that we want to play, and to come out and not play how we play and score, I don’t know, 100 points... that’s unacceptable.”
That was after a Hornets loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
Charlotte has time to figure things out. They’re building. Knueppel looks like a stud, Sion James is solid, and Ryan Kalkbrenner could be a good piece. That’s with Brandon Miller and Ball (if they don’t trade him) already in place.
But for the past decade, the Hornets haven’t been able to win basketball games consistently. That’s a very dangerous place to be in when it comes to retaining star talent long-term.
Eventually, if winning doesn’t start coming, players are going to want to play elsewhere. Especially players like Knueppel.
Knueppel doesn’t seem like the type of player who would abandon a franchise. In fact, he seems like the exact type of player the Hornets need to help turn their franchise around.
But every guy has his tipping point. And if the Hornets can’t figure out how to help Knueppel win, he will eventually want to go win somewhere else.