Kon Knueppel’s Charlotte Hornets career is off to a decent start.
The No. 4 pick of the 2025 NBA Draft led the Hornets to their first Summer League title, holding off a Sacramento Kings comeback in an 83-78 championship game win on Sunday. Knueppel led his team with 21 points and made the biggest shot of the night, with a 3-pointer in the final minute.
The shot put the Hornets up four, which became important when the Kings’ Isaac Jones made a 3-pointer 10 seconds later. The Kings had to start fouling when the Hornets got the ball back and never got a chance to complete what would have been an 18-point comeback.
The effort earned Knueppel Summer League championship game MVP honors after the game.
Jones, who powered the Stockton Kings to a G League championship last year, led Sacramento with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner (15 points), Jaylen Sims (11), KJ Simpson (11) and DJ Rodman (11) all joined Knueppel on the Hornets in double-digit scoring.
Charlotte looked on pace for an easy win, building a double-digit lead in the first quarter, but an 11-2 Kings run to close the second quarter made it a game again. The Hornets were up big again to open the fourth quarter, but a cold stretch for much of the frame opened the door for the Kings to make the ending uncomfortable.
The Hornets reached the championship game with a 4-0 record in group play, plus the third-best point differential among undefeated teams, then a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals Saturday. It was Sims who led the Hornets in that game, while Knueppel dealt with a head injury that left him wearing a bandage on his forehead Sunday.
All of that success was despite injuries to two of the Hornets’ rookies, as the No. 29 pick Liam McNeeley and No. 33 pick Sion James both missed four games with Achilles tendinitis and a hip injury, respectively.
Knueppel will now enter Hornets training camp fully expected to lock down a starting job, and Kalkbrenner will be in consideration for a major role in the paint after the Hornets’ trade of starting center Mark Williams. Success will be harder to find in the regular season, but when you’re a young team like the Hornets, you definitely want to see your young players doing stuff like this.
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