How Kon Knueppel Reignited Dale Jr’s Love For Basketball
5/13/20261 hr 20 min
Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with one of the most promising rising stars in the NBA, Charlotte Hornets small forward Kon Knueppel. Kon lit the professional basketball scene on fire this year as he became the first rookie in NBA history to lead the league in three-point shooting, shattering several records along the way. After growing up in a basketball family in the Milwaukee area, Kon was recruited by Duke, where he helped lead the team to Atlantic Coast dominance. He would declare for the NBA draft and would be picked fourth overall by the Hornets, helping to turn their performance around for the 2025/26 season. Kon would ultimately lose a highly contested Rookie of the Year battle with fellow Blue Devil Cooper Flagg by one of the narrowest margins in league history.
Funnily enough, despite having two basketball legends for parents, Kon didn’t show much interest in the sport until he got his hands on video game classics like NBA2K and NBA Jam. Kon became interested in the legends of the past and learned to love the game through its history. By high school, he was one of the most promising collegiate prospects in the country, and he fielded offers from many major Division One schools. Dale and Kon’s conversation covers the Hornets successful comeback season, the changing culture of the team and his journey from a close-knit, basketball crazy family to being a perimeter shooting phenom.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDale Earnhardt Jr.· Host0:00
The following is a production of Dirty Mo Media.
Kon Knueppel· Guest0:02
[upbeat music] You're Dale Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.· Host0:08
Should I say it? [laughs] It's Dale Jr.'s podcast, I gotta say it. [laughs] Hey, everybody. It's Dale Jr. back again for another episode of The Dale Jr. Download. We got a great guest for you today here, but first off, I wanna tell you about Arby's. Here in the Arby's Studio. Don't forget about their new Meat in 3 box. You get more meal for your money at Arby's. We have the meats, and we've got a great guest. Kaan Knipple is coming on to, uh, to talk about NBA, the Hornets, basketball. This guy is a shooting guard, small forward for the Charlotte Hornets. He was, uh, fourth overall pick in 2025. Had a great season. Um, shot a ton of three-pointers. We're gonna talk about that. Uh, almost, you know, kind of... We did. We got into the play-in. I'd say we made the playoffs. We didn't get to the first round, but we got close. We are close, man. We won a lot of games this year as the Charlotte Hornets.
Kon Knueppel· Guest1:03
We're knocking on the door.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.· Host1:03
We're knocking on the door. But, uh, and he's a big part of that. [clears throat] I've been wanting to get him on the show, and I think some of our, um, you know, some of the things we've said in this room, at this table, have helped.
Kon Knueppel· Guest1:14
Yeah, going forward, we're just- We made a plea ... we're just gonna tag every person we want.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.· Host1:17
Yeah.
Kon Knueppel· Guest1:17
And that's, we're just gonna- An emotional plea for him to come on- ... guerrilla warfare ...
Dale Earnhardt Jr.· Host1:20
and here he is. So I'm excited about it. I've got a lot of cards here that I'm trying to gain the courage to ask him to sign after the show's over with. And so,