The Charlotte Hornets named Kon Knueppel their Hornets season MVP for 2025-26, and on pure numbers, the case writes itself. However, LaMelo Ball presented a legitimate case that he deserved such a distinction. The Hornets’ season MVP debate between Kon Knueppel and LaMelo Ball, however, goes beyond the award itself and raises a bigger question about what truly drove this team’s turnaround.
Kon Knueppel Is Hornets MVP, But LaMelo Ball Carried The Team
What Knueppel produced as a rookie this season sits in a category occupied by almost nobody. Yet when you look at what actually drove Charlotte’s extraordinary turnaround from 11-22 to a play-in berth, one question surfaces naturally: Is this the right call?
What Knueppel Did And Why It Is Genuinely Special
Knueppel finished his rookie season with 273 made three-pointers. He became the first rookie in NBA history to lead the entire NBA in three-pointers made. That is not a franchise record or a rookie record, though he broke both of those, too. That is the whole league. Every player, every team, every season.
Furthermore, he shot 42.5% from three on 7.9 attempts per game, finishing ninth in the NBA in three-point percentage. Only two other rookies in NBA history have averaged at least 15 points, five rebounds, and shot 40% from three in the same season: Larry Bird and Paul Pierce. Knueppel joins them. That is not a modest company.
Across 81 games, Knueppel posted 18.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists on 47.7% shooting from the field. Furthermore, his on-off differential sits at plus 3.8. Charlotte went into the play-in as a team that simply does not function the same way without his presence on the floor. Choosing him as team MVP also carries a deliberate external purpose. With the Rookie of the Year race against Cooper Flagg still officially undecided, this award sends a message to voters: Charlotte believes in their rookie’s body of work.
The Case For Ball
Ball’s plus 5.8 on-off differential leads Knueppel’s plus 3.8 by a meaningful margin. The Hornets went 41-31 in the 72 games Ball played, a winning percentage that would place them fifth in the East over a full season. Ball averaged 7.1 assists per game against 2.8 turnovers this season. He orchestrated an offence that ranked among the NBA’s best in the second half of the season. He scored 20.1 points per game while shouldering the entire playmaking load. Every offensive sequence ran through him. Every switch, every mismatch, every open three Knueppel attempted, most of them existed because Ball created the defensive attention that generated them.
Early in the season, before Coby White arrived mid-season to provide secondary ball-handling, the Hornets’ offence visibly lost its shape whenever Ball rested. That pattern highlighted something important: Charlotte’s attack was built around one engine. When that engine ran, the team was elite.
Ball provided the gravity. Knueppel provided the explosion. That distinction matters when deciding who carried this team.
Both Are Right, For Different Reasons
Giving Knueppel the MVP award is not wrong. His season was historic, and his consistency across 81 games, which is more appearances than Ball managed, demonstrated exactly the reliability a team-voted award should recognize.
However, understanding the full picture means acknowledging that Ball’s 272 three-pointers, 7.1 assists, and franchise-level importance gave Knueppel the platform to make history on.
They needed each other. Charlotte was built on that partnership, and both players should carry the credit for what this season became. Now they turn their attention to an exciting postseason matchup with the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament.
Featured Image: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
