Hornets Rookie Kon Knueppel Had Honest Response to Steph Curry Comparison

Knueppel is near the top of the NBA in three-point shooting in his first season.

The Warriors took on the Hornets in Charlotte Wednesday | Photo by Kent Smith/NBAE via Getty Images

The Warriors traveled to Steph Curry’s hometown of Charlotte on Wednesday to take on the Hornets and rookie sharpshooter Kon Knueppel.

The Duke product and No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA draft has had a strong start to his first professional season, averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 42.8% on three-pointers and 8.5 attempts per game. Those numbers already put him near the top of the league in three-point shooting, as his 3.7 makes a night are below only Brooklyn’s Michael Porter Jr., Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and Curry, the greatest three-point shooter in NBA history.

Apparently, Knueppel’s start has drawn some comparisons to Curry, at least in one media member’s eyes. After the Hornets’ 132-125 loss to the Warriors on Wednesday, Knueppel was asked about his first time sharing the floor with Curry, whom the reporter described as “a guy you’re probably going to be compared to for the rest of your career.”

That’s some high praise, and it made even the star rookie take a step back.

“Um, I don’t know about that,” Knueppel hilariously responded to the unexpected Curry comparison.

Kon Knueppel when the reporter said he’d be compared to Steph Curry for the rest of his career:

"Umm… I don't know about that." 🤣🤣

pic.twitter.com/W1bLHy10GZ

— Guru (@DrGuru_) January 1, 2026

Curry is the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point field goals with 4,177, nearly 1,000 more than James Harden, who is the second-most in league history with 3,278 threes. To put things in perspective, Knueppel would need to average 320 threes per season for 13 years to come close to Curry’s mark, to which he is not done adding. Last season, Anthony Edwards had the most total three-pointers across the NBA with 320.

The rookie is off to a good start, though, with 117 threes over his first 31 career games. He nailed his 100th three in his 29th career game, which made him the fastest player ever to reach the feat, eclipsing Lauri Markkanen’s previous mark of making his 100th three-pointer in his 41st game.

Still, a Curry comparison is quite lofty. And Knueppel isn’t ready to get anywhere close to that yet.

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