Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with one of the most promising rising stars in the NBA, Charlotte Hornets small forward Kon Knueppel. Kon lit the professional basketball scene on fire this year as he became the first rookie in NBA history to lead the league in three-point shooting, shattering several records along the way. After growing up in a basketball family in the Milwaukee area, Kon was recruited by Duke, where he helped lead the team to Atlantic Coast dominance. He would declare for the NBA draft and would be picked fourth overall by the Hornets, helping to turn their performance around for the 2025/26 season. Kon would ultimately lose a highly contested Rookie of the Year battle with fellow Blue Devil Cooper Flagg by one of the narrowest margins in league history.

Funnily enough, despite having two basketball legends for parents, Kon didn’t show much interest in the sport until he got his hands on video game classics like NBA2K and NBA Jam. Kon became interested in the legends of the past and learned to love the game through its history. By high school, he was one of the most promising collegiate prospects in the country, and he fielded offers from many major Division One schools. Dale and Kon’s conversation covers the Hornets successful comeback season, the changing culture of the team and his journey from a close-knit, basketball crazy family to being a perimeter shooting phenom.

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