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Hornets’ Kon Knueppel shares his take on Rookie of the Year race with Cooper Flagg
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- Hornets’ Kon Knueppel shares his take on Rookie of the Year race with Cooper Flagg
Hornets' Kon Knueppel shares his take on Rookie of the Year race with Cooper Flagg appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Charlotte Hornets ' Kon Knueppel got a chance to catch up with his former Duke teammate and Rookie of the Year candidate in Mavericks ' Cooper Flagg . Knueppel strengthened his case for ROY against Flagg in their 123-121 Hornets win. Kon erupted for eight threes, which helped edge the Mavericks in a two-point victory. He finished with 34 points.
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Knueppel addressed what it was like to face his former college teammate in the NBA for the first time, amidst their Rookie of the Year race, per NBA on Prime.
"That was really fun, obviously. He's playing at a really high level, and he played a heck of a game against us. But it's always good to compete against him," Knueppel said. "It kind of brought me back to practice at Duke a little bit, and it was really great to see him."
Did Knueppel talk to Flagg about their current ROY race?
"Not really," Knueppel replied. "We talked a little bit before the game. We were talking about maybe catching up over the All-Star break. I'll catch him out there for Rising Stars. Maybe head over to Duke for a game. So, not really a whole lot of banter about it. We didn't get to really talk after the game, really disappointing."
While Cooper Flagg has held a steady lead for this year's Rookie of the Year award, Knueppel has emerged as one of the NBA's leading 3-point shooters, trailing Golden State Warriors All-Star Stephen Curry (175) and Cleveland Cavs ' Donovan Mitchell (172) with 162 threes on the season. He's averaging 18.8 points on 48.6% shooting, including 42.7% from deep on 7.7 attempts, and 5.4 rebounds this season.
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The two Duke products will both participate in the Rising Stars competition at this year's All-Star weekend in February.
Kon Knueppel 's historic rookie mark in Hornets win
Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
While LaMelo Ball crossed the 2,000 career assists threshold , rookie Kon Knueppel's eight threes made Hornets franchise history. Knueppel's eight threes set a franchise record , per Hornets PR's X, formerly Twitter.
"With 8 3PM so far in tonight's game at DAL, Kon Knueppel has set a franchise record for 3PM in a single game, breaking the previous record set by five different players, including himself on No. 23, 2025. Knueppel has entered the top-10 for most 3PM in a rookie season," Hornets PR reported.
Related: Hornets' Charles Lee hits wild cartwheel after 6th-straight win
Related: Watch Dirk Nowitzki tell Hornets' Kon Knueppel what his last name means in German
