If you aren’t paying close attention to what is happening in Charlotte right now, you are missing out on one of the most historic shooting seasons the NBA has ever seen. We all knew rookie Kon Knueppel was a lethal marksman coming out of Duke, but absolutely nobody predicted he would be rewriting the record books this quickly.
During Tuesday night’s dominant 131-99 blowout win over the Chicago Bulls, the 20-year-old Hornets phenom didn’t just break a massive NBA three-point record—he completely shattered it.
The 58-Game Sprint to History
Knueppel officially became the fastest player in the history of the NBA to reach 200 career made three-pointers, hitting the milestone in just his 58th game.
To truly understand how insane this pace is, you have to look at the legends he is leaving in the dust. The previous record was held by Miami’s Duncan Robinson, who took 69 games to hit the 200 mark. Sacramento’s Keegan Murray did it in 77 games during his rookie campaign. Even the greatest shooter to ever live, Stephen Curry, needed 99 games to reach 200 threes. Knueppel casually beat the previous record-holder by a full 11 games.
The Numbers Behind the Madness 📊
What makes this run so terrifying for the rest of the league is that Knueppel isn’t just chucking up bad shots on a bad team. He is playing highly efficient, winning basketball. Here is a look at what the rookie is doing right now:
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Elite Scoring: He is averaging a massive 19.2 points per game as a 20-year-old rookie.
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Leading the Pack: Knueppel isn’t just leading all rookies; he currently leads the entire NBA in total three-pointers made this season.
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Historic Efficiency: He is shooting over 43% from deep while taking around eight threes a game, putting him in a class of his own when it comes to volume combined with accuracy.
The Rookie of the Year Race Just Got Hotter 🏆
For most of the season, Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg was viewed as the runaway favorite for Rookie of the Year. However, Knueppel’s historic shooting stretch and the Hornets’ sudden push for the Eastern Conference playoffs have completely flipped the script. We are now looking at a legitimate two-man race for the crown.
Knueppel has officially established himself as the premier young shooter in basketball, and he is showing zero signs of slowing down. If he keeps this pace up, he won’t just be breaking rookie records—he will be coming for Steph Curry’s all-time numbers sooner rather than later.
