Kon Knueppel's Stats Through 59 Games Are Strikingly Similar to an NBA Legend

The Charlotte Hornets have a real one in Kon Knueppel. After years of terrible injury and lottery luck, and poor front office decisions, the franchise is finally headed in the right direction, and he's a massive part of the team's upswing.

As Hornets play-by-play man Eric Collins recently said after he hits back-to-back threes in 18 seconds, "How in the world did the Hornets ever luck into this fantastically glorious player, who is never gonna leave?”

It's hard to believe that after all the Hornets have been through, they finally have a player (and a trio) that has the attention of the entire league. In his recent outing, Knueppel went an insane 8/11 from three-point range, passing Keegan Murray for the top spot in most threes made by a rookie in NBA history.

His numbers beyond the three-point mark are just as impressive, and as a matter of fact, they are strikingly similar to those of Larry Bird, who, of course, was a 12-time All-Star, three-time MVP, and a Hall of Famer.

I mean, just look at this.

Through first 59 games	Larry Bird	Kon Knueppel
PPG	20.1	19.4
APG	4.3	3.5
FG%	48.1%	49.1%
3FG%	41.4%	44.2%
FT%	83.1%	89.3%

Absolutely bonkers to think that this is how special of a year he is having. If you just rewind back to the lottery a year ago, Hornets fans went into the final commercial break thinking they had a chance to land Cooper Flagg. Then they were the very next team announced, being awarded the fourth overall pick, which sent a large wave of frustration throughout the fan base. Oh, if only everyone knew then what we know now.

Who knows whether or not Knueppel will have the same type of career that Bird ended up having, and to be honest, that's quite a tall task and perhaps a bit unfair of an expectation. But the longer he continues to play at this level, particularly offensively, he's going to be compared to many of the game's greats, including Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Obviously, Steph and Kon are two different styles of players, but they are the cream of the crop when it comes to shooting the ball.

It may not happen anytime soon, but don't be surprised if, at some point throughout Kon's career, he threatens and possibly even breaks Steph's record for most threes in a season, which is 402. The fact that he's on pace for roughly 285 in his rookie season shows that with more time and experience, it's absolutely possible.