Charlotte Hornets forward Kon Knueppel has already put together his own all-time “perfect team,” and the names he picked tell you everything about the way he sees the game.
Knueppel went with Stephen Curry, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tim Duncan and Victor Wembanyama.
That’s a five-man group loaded with firepower and balance: Curry’s shooting, Jordan and James as the standard-bearers for greatness, Duncan as the defining power forward, and Wembanyama bringing a two-way presence that changes everything around him.
For Knueppel, it’s a lineup that feels untouchable. And if those prime versions of Curry, Jordan, James and Duncan are on the floor, the logic gets even stronger.
Knueppel’s own rookie year gave him plenty of reason to be in the conversation for standout seasons, even if he didn’t take home the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award. The Duke product averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He also led the NBA in 3-pointers.
The accolades piled up fast. Knueppel won the first four Rookie of the Month awards last season, becoming the first Hornet ever to do it four times.
He kept rewriting the record book along the way. At age 20, he became the only player in NBA history age 22 or younger to record 250 3PM in a season against New York on March 26. Against Miami on March 6, he passed Jordan for the NBA rookie record for most games with 20+ points on 65% true shooting, reaching 27, and that came in his then-rookie-leading 14th 25-point game.
Knueppel also set an NBA rookie record for 3-pointers made in a season with 207 at Indiana on Feb. 26, when he matched his career high with 8 3PM and tied his own franchise rookie record. Then on Feb. 7 at Atlanta, he broke the rookie mark for most games with 5+ 3PM, finishing with 14.
On Dec. 31 against Golden State, he broke the rookie record for most games with 20+ points on 50/40/90 shooting splits, finishing with 12 and surpassing Curry’s previous mark.
By the end of the season, Knueppel had joined rare company. He became one of three rookies in NBA history, minimum 25 games played, to average at least 15 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from 3-point range, alongside Larry Bird and Paul Pierce.