What Kon Knueppel thought of good buddy Cooper Flagg missing NBA rookie showdown
Kon Knueppel was just as bummed as everyone else.
With Cooper Flagg still nursing a left midfoot sprain that’s sidelined the Dallas Mavericks’ young star since Feb. 10, that meant no rookie showdown between the Charlotte Hornets’ prized pick and his buddy and close friend from Duke.
“Yeah, I think you just want to play teams at their best,” Knueppel told the Charlotte Observer. “Obviously him not playing, they’re not at their best. But every game in the NBA is a challenge.”
Still, these aren’t the Hornets of old. And Knueppel is a massive reason why.
On the heels of Knueppel garnering his fourth straight Eastern Conference rookie of the month award, the Hornets dispatched shorthanded Dallas 117-90 at Spectrum Center on Tuesday night. The victory in front of a sellout crowd pushed Charlotte to the .500 mark, something that hasn’t happened this late in the season since 2015-16, and marked the fifth straight win for the surging Hornets.
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“As a Charlottean, it feels pretty good,” Grant Williams said. “But I’ll say that we’re committed to just improving every single day. That’s where our focus lies. And I think our approach has allowed us to put ourselves in this position. Now that we’ve got back to this position, we have to continue that same level because it’s only going to get harder and harder.
“It’s harder to win when you have a target on your back. It’s harder to win when teams expect that you’re going to play the way that you are. So, I think this group just has to continue to stay focused, continue to grind and focus on the little things that matter.”
That’s the key to ensuring the culture shift is far from temporary. The journey just reaching this point hasn’t been easy, either. Not after beginning the 2025-26 campaign 4-14, a painful start that’s been evened out on the strength of the Hornets (31-31) securing wins in 15 of their past 18 games.
“It shows how hard we work,” Brandon Miller said. “But we’re focused on the next game instead of just the numbers. So, once we keep piling up these wins we’ll probably be way over .500. So, just keep piling wins and playing with that confidence.”
In becoming the only player in franchise history to earn the rookie of the month nod on four occasions, and the first to do so in the NBA since Orlando’s Paolo Banchero accomplished the feat in 2022-23, Knueppel continues to stake his claim for major consideration for the NBA’s rookie of the year honors.
Knueppel, who posted 13 points along with seven rebounds and five assists against the Mavs, was the lone rookie to total more than 200 points in February and led all first-year players with 21.5 points per game. His early-career success is no surprise to Charles Lee.
“Definitely saw it coming,” the Hornets coach said. “It’s a sign of consistency, and that’s who he is. Our whole team is obsessed with daily improvement, and they’re always just seeking how they can continue to get better every day.
“And he’s shown that no matter what the game is, who the opponent is, what the matchup is, he shows up and gives you everything he has in whatever regard he can.”
Which has him in a tight race with Flagg for the rookie of the year. But at least one person believes Knueppel has already sewn up the hardware.
“I’ve been saying it since Day One,” Miller said. “He’s stamped the rookie of the year talks.”
Here are some key takeaways from the Hornets’ win over Dallas:
Praise for LaMelo Ball
Put Jason Kidd among the group of those impressed with LaMelo Ball’s growth.
Ball just missed a double-double, tossing in 15 points to go with nine assists and five rebounds against Dallas. And although he didn’t have his most efficient shooting effort of the season, canning 5 of 19 attempts and going 4-for-13 beyond the 3-point arc, he still found ways to leave his imprint on the action.
Which is something he’s done for the better part of his sixth season and Kidd thinks Ball should have been among the Eastern Conference All-Stars.
“Defensively he’s going to try to go for steals (has) high IQ, understands the defensive side,” Kidd said. “Can be a disruptor there. His ability to pass … he’s 6-7, maybe 6-8. He can see over the defense and that’s I think one of his strengths is to be able to get to the red and they roll or they look for the three.
“So, his ability (when) the ball touches the paint, he can look over the defense where some guards can’t. Just his spirit, his energy, he’s very talkative, he loves the game and he’s playing the game at a very high level.”
Jason Kidd: Charles Lee should be up for award
Charles Lee didn’t grab his second straight Eastern Conference coach of the month award, with the honor for February instead going to Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson. But if you ask Jason Kidd, Lee should be in line for a much bigger prize.
Unsolicited, the Mavs coach strongly suggested Lee’s name needs to be atop the leaderboard for the NBA’s 2025-26 coach of the year honors. When asked to elaborate why he thought Lee is deserving, Kidd pointed to the Hornets’ resurgence under their second-year coach.
“When you look at what he’s done with this young team, they compete, they’re fun to watch, he’s a teacher at a high level,” Kidd said. “To be able to do that in a short time is not easy when you have talented players that he has and they’re that young, to find that consistency. And I think he’s done that in the short term.”
Coby White sits
Street clothes adorned Coby White’s frame, keeping him on the bench in similar fashion to how things were during his initial seven games with the Hornets after being traded to Charlotte from Chicago on Feb. 4.
But this isn’t a cause for concern.
White sat out due to his strained left calf, a move that was mostly precautionary. Given the Hornets were on the front end of a back-to-back with a date in Boston against the Celtics on tap on Wednesday, they intend on playing it safe and aren’t about to push White too much.
“Yeah, way more about maintenance coming back from that injury,” Charles Lee said. “We just want to be smart about how we’re reintegrating him into game action and trying to maximize his availability the rest of the season.
“So this is one of those just kind of maintenance things to keep him in a good place.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 9:43 PM with the headline "What Kon Knueppel thought of good buddy Cooper Flagg missing NBA rookie showdown."
