On Tuesday night, the Charlotte Hornets pulled off a 127-126 overtime win over the Miami Heat in the first Play-In game. This victory was made possible by the performances of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who scored 30 and 28 points, respectively.
But one name quickly became the center of criticism: rookie Kon Knueppel.
How Kon Knueppel’s Disappointing Play-In Performance Could Impact Rookie of the Year
The Hornets’ rookie arguably had the worst performance of his young career on the biggest stage of his life. He finished with just 6 points on 2-for-12 shooting, 5 rebounds, and only 1 assist in 34 minutes of gameplay.
Kon Knueppel finally has his Welcome To The League moment to talk about on podcasts in 20 years
pic.twitter.com/DpME2LVBGc
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 15, 2026
For a player who was heavily linked to the Rookie of the Year conversation, the timing couldn’t have been worse, and the NBA world didn’t hold back.
One of the loudest voices cutting through the social media noise was that of Dallas Mavericks reporter Noah Weber.
He noted that Tuesday’s game marked the sixth time this season that Knueppel finished with fewer than 10 points. The worst part was that three of those six clunkers had come within the last month alone.
He then turned the knife by drawing a sharp comparison to fellow rookie and chief ROTY rival Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks. Flagg, for his part, had finished with fewer than 10 points just twice all season.
“Cooper Flagg finished with less than 10 points twice this season. One was the fourth game of his career. The other he got hurt in the second quarter. This Rookie of the Year race shouldn’t even be a conversation,” Weber wrote on X.
Before the opening tip on Tuesday, the popular NBA analytics account Underdog NBA had revealed that Knueppel’s odds of winning Rookie of the Year stood at 66%.
Now the twist is that the ballots haven’t been submitted yet. That leaves the door wide open.
One poor performance might not define a season, but in a tight race, it can absolutely reshape narratives. Voters often remember how players finish, and Knueppel’s Play-In showing may have come at the worst possible moment.
“His ROTY odds were 66% heading into tonight’s game,” NBA Underdog posted.
Just days earlier, in Charlotte’s final regular-season game against the New York Knicks, Knueppel had reached a milestone that no rookie in NBA history had ever achieved. He had made 273 3-pointers in a single season.
This made him the first rookie ever to lead the league in 3s in a season. Now, in the game against the Heat, the rookie made 0 3s. This was quite disappointing for many.
“Kon Knueppel having an all-time bad night in a do-or-die game: 6 points on 2-for-12 shooting, 0-for-6 from three… from the NBA’s leader in threes,” the Legion Hoops page wrote.
Even NBA analyst Rob Perez noted that a performance like this against the Miami Heat could significantly hurt Knueppel’s Rookie of the Year chances, as the ballots have not been submitted yet.
“The NBA delaying individual award ballots for voters is going to impact the results. It is a regular season only honor, but idk how anyone with a vote watching this isn’t going to be somewhat influenced by these performances. Kneuppel and Jaquez specifically,” Perez wrote.
The Rookie of the Year race isn’t over yet. But after this performance, it’s no longer as clear-cut as it once seemed.
