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Hornets star Kon Knueppel set the new NBA rookie record for three-pointers

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh02/27/26griffin_mcveigh

Kon Knueppel continues to take the NBA storm as a rookie with the Charlotte Hornets. Thursday brought another milestone for the first-round pick out of Duke, and it’s a big one. He broke the rookie record for most three-pointers made. Previously, Keegan Murray of the Sacramento Kings held the honor.

The record-breaker came late in the third quarter with Charlotte already up by 23 points. Knueppel received a pass on the outside, getting the Indiana Pacers defender to bite on a pump fake. A dribble to the left and a stepback found Knueppel wide open. From there, the play was completely routine.

Knueppel finished the night with eight makes from three on 12 attempts. His total on the season now sits at 207, one ahead of Murray. You can check out the full play here.

Knueppel is likely going to be a lot more than one ahead of Murray when things are all said and done. There are 22 games remaining on the schedule for Charlotte. With good health, Knueppel is going to fire plenty more shots from three and make a lot of them. A really impressive player will have to come into the league to give Knueppel’s record a run.

Saturday afternoon will be the next time the Hornets take the court. The Portland Trailblazers come to town, with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. ET. There is going to be a push from Charlotte to make the Eastern Conference Play-In, meaning all games are important moving forward.

More on Kon Knueppel, incredible rookie season with Charlotte Hornets

Duke saw its entire starting five get selected in the 2025 NBA Draft. Cooper Flagg the most touted of them all, going No. 1 overall to the Dallas Mavericks. But Knueppel was not too fire behind, getting selected fourth by Charlotte. To say the pick has worked out for the Hornets would be an understatement.

Entering Thursday, Knueppel was averaging 19.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. To no surprise, shooting is the rookie’s best attribute. Knueppel is making 48.9% of shots from the field and 43.6% from deep. His three-point percentage is inside the top 10 among all NBA players.

The averages are only going to get better after Charlotte beat Indiana. Knueppel finished with 28 points, mostly thanks to those previously-mentioned eight made three-pointers. He added four rebounds and two assists. Even a block and a steal are baked into the stat sheet.