Knueppel wins 3‑Point Contest

Kon Knueppel beat LaMelo Ball by one made three to win the Charlotte Hornets’ in-house season-long three-point race, finishing as the National Basketball Association leader in made threes on April 13. (sportingnews.com) The one-shot margin came after both Hornets guards cleared 270 made three-pointers this season, a threshold only Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson had previously reached as teammates. (sportingnews.com) Sporting News reported that Knueppel shot 42.5% from three in his rookie season, while Ball hit 36.8%, with Knueppel making one more three despite Ball taking more attempts. (sportingnews.com) That finish capped a year in which Knueppel went from All-Star Weekend contestant to league leader. The Hornets announced on February 8 that he had been selected for the 2026 National Basketball Association All-Star Three-Point Contest in Los Angeles. (nba.com) At the time of that announcement, Knueppel ranked third in the league with 174 made threes through 52 games and was already closing in on Charlotte’s rookie record from deep. (nba.com) The Hornets also said Knueppel had set an National Basketball Association rookie record with his 14th game of five or more made threes by February 7, and had broken the rookie mark for consecutive games with at least two made threes. (nba.com) By season’s end, the story was no longer just Knueppel’s shooting. Charlotte had two players at 270-plus made threes, matching Curry and Thompson’s seasons in 2015-16 and 2022-23 as the only other examples cited in coverage of the feat. (therookiewire.usatoday.com) Knueppel’s edge was a single shot, but the larger number attached to Charlotte was two: two teammates over 270, a mark the league had not seen together since the Golden State Warriors’ Splash Brothers. (sports.yahoo.com)