CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel walked into the postgame news conference and was greeted by a handful of television cameras blocking his path to the podium when suddenly out jumped head coach Charles Lee, who doused him with a bottle of water before embracing his star rookie.
There were plenty of reasons for the upstart Hornets to celebrate Thursday night.
Knueppel made four 3-pointers in Charlotte’s 127-107 win over the Phoenix Suns to set the Hornets’ franchise record for 3s in a season. Charlotte also took another step toward potentially hosting a play-in tournament game.
Knueppel is a big reason why.
He leads the league in 3s made with 261 and is in a battle with Dallas’ Cooper Flagg for NBA Rookie of the Year. Earlier this season, Knueppel shattered the league rookie record for 3s in a season previously held by Sacramento’s Keegan Murray.
“I think maybe I’ve surpassed my expectations for myself a little bit,” Knueppel said.
Knueppel wasn’t sure how his rookie season would go after he felt as if he didn’t play well in the offseason after being drafted No. 4 overall by Duke. But he started to feel comfortable once he got to training camp and was named an opening night starter.
“I felt like I had enough to help this team – and we got a lot of talented players,” Knueppel said.
Knueppel needed four 3s coming into the game to break Kemba Walker’s franchise record of 260 set in 2018-19.
He got the third late in the third quarter and then had two open looks in the fourth, but missed both. Each time he spotted up to shoot, the fans in the arena rose to their feet in anticipation of him breaking the record – only to let out a groan after he missed.
“You definitely feel it,” Knueppel said of the crowd. “It makes the ones that go in real, real sweet, but it is also like pretty reassuring as a shooter when the ones you miss the crowd (lets out) an audible like ‘ooooh.’ That’s reassuring as a shooter that fans believe in that every shot you take is going in.”
The record-breaker came at the end of a wild offensive sequence with Grant Williams finding Knueppel in the left corner, where he swished a 3.
Also in the game, the Suns’ Collin Gillespie set the Phoenix franchise record for 3-pointers in a season with his 227th basket from long distance, surpassing the mark of 226, set by Quentin Richardson (2004-05).
