Charlotte Hornets wing Kon Knueppel is enjoying an unforgettable rookie campaign. He has quickly established himself as an elite NBA shooter, while also breathing new life into what had been one of the most irrelevant franchises in major American sports. Those feats alone are enough to make a mighty convincing Rookie of the Year argument, but his catalog of 2025-26 accolades is even deeper.

Knueppel was asked to blindly rank his accomplishments this season, an exercise that unsurprisingly proved to be quite challenging.

In order from one to seven, the 20-year-old ranked the following: the all-time rookie record for 3-pointers made, helping the Hornets attain their longest winning streak of the century, competing in the 3-Point Contest, becoming the fastest player to record 100 and 200 treys, going No. 4 in the NBA Draft, leading the league in 3-pointers and winning four straight Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month awards.

Knueppel immediately expressed regret over not placing his NBA-best 247 3-pointers made (that was the number before Thursday's game versus New York Knicks) a little higher on his rankings, but regardless of the order, these milestone achievements are absolutely remarkable.

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The former Duke star is averaging 19.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists while shooting 48.7 percent from the field and a scorching 43.6 percent from behind the 3-point line (eighth in NBA). Like these numbers and the aforementioned triumphs suggest, he is having a transformative effect on this team.

The Hornets scored a league-worst 105.1 points per game last season. They now rank in the top-half of the NBA with 116.4. Charlotte shot a paltry 33.9  percent from downtown during the 2024-25 campaign, ranking 28th in The Association. Charles Lee's squad is draining 38.2 percent of his 3-pointer attempts this season, which ranks third.

Perhaps the biggest change, the Hornets are 38-34 and are only two games out of sixth place after losing 55 or more games in three straight years. Kon Knueppel is changing the culture in Charlotte. Securing a big Cheez-it endorsement deal and potentially besting college roommate Cooper Flagg for Rookie of the Year honors are certainly worth celebrating, but electrifying a formerly dejected fan base might top everything else.

Knueppel and the Hornets are going for their third five-game winning streak of 2026 in Thursday's home matchup versus the Knicks.