Charlotte Hornets' Latrell Wrightsell Jr. Talks Summer League, His Journey to the NBA, and More

Las Vegas Summer League has all sorts of hoopers.

Future NBA superstars donning their team's colors for the first time. Journeyman veterans trying to grind their way back onto an NBA roster. Recent college graduates attempting to extend their playing careers by one more day.

The Charlotte Hornets' Summer League roster has players all over that spectrum, including undrafted sharpshooter Latrell Wrightsell Jr.

The 24-year-old rookie signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Charlotte, affording him the opportunity to spend the summer with the Hornets and prove himself worthy of a roster spot in their organization. I caught up with the former Alabama Crimson Tide to talk about the pre-draft process, his early impressions of the Hornets’ organization, and his mindset during the first professional summer of his basketball career.

Wrightsell Jr. was described to me as someone with “an infectious smile” who was the “best shooter at Alabama.” I ran that by him, and he felt like those descriptors were apt, with one being more true than the other.

“I would have to agree,” said Wrightsell with a laugh. “I’m a humble person…I don’t know about the shooter part. But the smiling and affection and the passion I play with, I would say that's probably more true than what the shooting aspect of it is.”

His humility is admirable, but Wrightsell really can shoot the cover off the ball.

In his final season at Alabama, Wrightsell Jr. knocked down 36% of his three-pointers on nearly eight attempts per game. Already nicknamed “Shooter” by Charlotte’s coaching staff, Wrightsell Jr. was sold on the Hornets when they told him how they planned to utilize his marksmanship in the pre-draft process.

“They were real intentional with what they wanted to do with me. And they were real intentional about what they had and plans of where they were seeing their future going…They're just trying to implement me on some of the plays and stuff like that coming off shooter's actions.”

There’s no shortage of opportunities for shooters like Wrightsell to thrive in Charlotte’s up-tempo halfcourt offense that emphasizes the three-point shot. He saw how the Hornets deployed deadeye shooter Kon Knueppel last summer and said that the team has utilized him in similar ways.

“Kind of how, like, Kon Knueppel is, how he started off, just coming in, being a dynamic shooter. On the move, catch and shoot, stuff like that. So that’s their plan with me and then obviously they have me playing on and off the ball. But, (they want me to) be a dynamic shooter. Not just being a one-dimensional catch-and-shooter, but coming off actions, and I've seen that with the play calls and stuff that we've been doing so far.”

Much of what Charlotte does is familiar to Wrightsell Jr. Nate Oats, his coach at the University of Alabama, is famous for his high-octane brand of offense that eschews mid-range jumpers for the more analytically sound options at the rim and beyond the arc.

“The concept of the plays are kind of the same as what we ran at Alabama. And it's cool to see that because I didn't really think that when people would tell me, ‘we run an NBA system in Alabama.’ I thought it was just like, ‘oh, because we shoot 3s, don’t shoot mid-ranges,’ but even the play calls and everything else we've done so far, in terms of defensive contests and stuff, are similar to what we did at Alabama.”

In our conversation, Wrightsell Jr. played some of Charles Lee’s greatest press conference hits, complimenting the organization’s focus on daily habits, hard work, and “controlling the controllables.” He explicitly mentioned Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, and Sion James as current players that have helped drive the organizational mindset of “Hornets DNA” home.

“And then I love the guys like Sion James, who's a real professional on and off the court. Someone that has been here for a year and played all 82 games, knows how to take care of his body, knows leadership, knows the right mental side of things.”

It would be easy for Wrightsell Jr. to feel like he’s made it, but he knows that the work to realize his dream of playing in the NBA isn’t done yet.

He learned from former Alabama teammate and 2025 Summer League standout Chris Youngblood that patience is a virtue, and that just because he signed his first NBA contract doesn’t mean he’s arrived yet.

“With (Youngblood’s) experience in the Summer League last year with him having a couple big games, and then to him being able to find himself in a spot with the Thunder and now with the Trailblazers…just being patient and obviously being professional throughout it all and not growing weary of doing good.”

That’s the type of mindset that will go a long way for a player like Wrightsell Jr. who still has plenty to prove.

It’s yet to be seen whether his long-term future in the sport is with Charlotte, but Wrightsell Jr. is relishing the opportunity to audition for the Hornets and the other 29 franchises that will get to see him hoop in Vegas this summer in a role that is different from the one he played at Alabama.

“And I'm just kind of just enjoying the moment and not trying to take anything for granted, but also capitalize on every opportunity I do get.”

“It’s also been a learning experience because I haven't ever sat this long. But it's just cool because I'm learning as I go…being an instant spark with what I can do shooting the ball, but also defending, and also being able to make an impact in the time that I do get. It’s been pretty cool for me to learn that and just understand it.”

As the Hornets’ Summer League campaign winds down and the Vegas veterans like Sion James and Liam McNeeley cede play time to the newer players on the roster, Wrightsell Jr. will likely see an uptick in play time.

Keep your shades handy, because that infectious smile will flash across your screen when he sees the floor.

“That's why I smile a lot on the court,” said Wrightsell Jr. when discussing how his perspective on basketball changed after tearing his Achilles in 2024, “because I don't think you should ever have a bad day in life.”

“And I try to live that and showcase that throughout not just myself, but try to give that same energy off to everyone else in the world.”

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