The Charlotte Hornets may have landed an iron man in Kon Knueppel. He has missed only one game in his rookie season so far despite already having sustained a few injuries. Apparently, he even had a "little chip fracture" in his finger or toe, although he didn’t specify when it happened.
"I feel good," Knueppel told Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer when asked about his health. "There's a lot of nicks and bruises and things, but I luckily haven’t had anything major. Had the little chip fracture in the pinky early in the season, stuff like that. But yeah, the body's holding up."
There weren't any reports of the first-year pro injuring any of his digits, let alone sitting out a contest because of it. But that speaks volumes about his durability and resilience. The lone game he skipped was due to an ankle injury, and it was impressive that he was not on the injury report for much longer, considering the way his ankle turned.
Knueppel has actually returned to the injury report, this time because of a right hip contusion. Fortunately, it does not seem serious enough for him to miss more matches.
The regular-season grind
It remains to be seen if Knueppel can suit up in each of the Hornets' remaining games this season. If that's the case, he would be able to achieve something not even LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller have done in their respective careers — play in at least 80 contests in a campaign.
The most Ball has played is 75, doing so in the 2021-22 season. As for Miller, he had 74 appearances in his rookie year before suiting up just 27 times in the following campaign. This year, he has already sat out 16 bouts.
So, if Knueppel manages to avoid being sidelined from here on, it would be a breath of fresh air for Hornets fans. Some of them may already have gotten used to the team's top players being fixtures on the injury report.
Interestingly, the Duke University product said he didn't miss a game in high school or college, further proving why we can trust him to be the icon of durability Charlotte sorely needs. Of course, the NBA's 82-game regular season is a different beast. However, he seems prepared for the grind despite the ailments he has endured over the past weeks.
Knueppel told Boone that he has been more proactive than reactive when it comes to his body's health. He stated, "Like not 'Oh no, my ankle hurts, I've got to get some treatment today.' It's more like, 'All right, my shoulder tends to bug me, let's get working on the shoulder throughout the week.'" The swingman also credited Charlotte's training staff for doing a "great job" in helping him keep his body right.
Hopefully, Knueppel can elude the injury bug that has heartbreakingly affected the franchise in recent years. The good thing is that he doesn't appear to be too fazed by the minor "nicks and bruises," including that fracture in his pinky, that he has so far had to deal with. Let's pray that no tragic or freak injuries befall him at any point in his career.