Heading into the play-in tournament, Kon Knueppel was drawing Rookie of the Year buzz as he finished with the most threes made in the regular season. However, fans changed their tune on Friday when Knueppel had an abysmal shooting performance in the Charlotte Hornets’ 121-90 loss to the Orlando Magic.
On social media, Knueppel (who went 1-for-12 from beyond the arc in the entire play-in tournament) found himself on the receiving end of scathing criticism.
“Can leave duke, but duke can’t leave you”
“Bro ain’t built for the big stage yet”
“leading the league in threes and then shooting like that in the Play-In is wild timing”
“KON is ONLY GOOD OUTSIDE THE ARC, then bad to mediocre INSIDE the ARC. So, they should STOP looking for ONE DIMENSIONAL PLAYER when they gvimg the MVP & ROTY awards, period.”
“Dog s*** not getting ROTY”
“Cooper Flagg would neva”
On Tuesday, Knueppel’s 0-for-6 stat line from deep was buried beneath the thrilling heroics of teammates like LaMelo Ball in the overtime Heat-Hornets encounter. It should also be noted that the former Duke Blue Devil finished with six points and five rebounds that night.
Three days later, Knueppel upped his production to 11 points but it was a drop in the bucket as the Magic routed the Hornets by 31. With Charlotte’s loss at Kia Center, their 2025-26 season comes to an end.
At this point, the only saving grace for Knueppel’s debut season in the NBA is winning Rookie of the Year honors over his former college teammate Cooper Flagg. Knueppel may have been overwhelmed by the moment in his first postseason stint, but it’s nevertheless likely that this sweet-shooting guard will go on multiple playoff runs in his career.
Analyst Backs Kon Knueppel’s Rookie of the Year Case Despite Horrendous Shooting in Play-in Tournament
One analyst who thinks Kon Knueppel still has the Rookie of the Year award in the bag is Chandler Parsons. Following the Heat-Hornets game on Tuesday, Parsons pointed out how Knueppel’s opponent for the award didn’t even make it to the postseason.
“The other guy is in Cancun now…So you’re gonna dock this guy when the other guy’s not even playing?”
The 2025-26 Rookie of the Year will likely be a Duke product, but fans will have to wait and see which former Jon Scheyer protege it’s going to be.
