Kon Knueppel recalls guarding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the first time: ‘Man I got no chance’

Kon Knueppel has made a career out of shooting over defenders, but the Charlotte Hornets forward admits there was one assignment that left him rattled before he had played a regular-season minute: picking up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the open floor. Speaking on The Old Man and the Three podcast this week, Knueppel described that preseason moment as his first real taste of how far the gap between college and the NBA’s best can stretch.

The story landed while Knueppel is stuck in street clothes. A left hamstring strain has kept him out of all three Hornets games so far, and he is listed as a game-time decision for Monday.

A preseason moment that stuck

Knueppel said the moment came in a preseason game against Oklahoma City, when a transition sequence left him alone with the two-time MVP and no help in sight. His reaction, by his own telling, was simple: “Man I got no chance.” He added that he kept looking around to see whether a teammate was coming to take the matchup off his hands.

“All of a sudden I was guarding SGA … I was just like ‘Man I got no chance.’” — Kon Knueppel on his first holy sh-t moment in the NBA 🤣 @fanduel pic.twitter.com/diuAjng4Yo

— TheOldManAndTheThree (@OldManAndThree) October 22, 2026

What impressed him most, he explained, was not raw speed. Gilgeous-Alexander rarely seems to be in a hurry with the ball, yet the difficult shots he makes look routine, and the change of pace is what makes him so hard to stay in front of. The Thunder guard has opened this season at 24.5 points per game across two wins, along with 2.0 blocks and 1.5 steals, even while shooting 41.3 percent from the field.

Knueppel also singled out Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City’s guard and one of the league’s most disruptive perimeter defenders, calling him “one of the tougher players to play against” and saying Wallace’s offense is underrated next to his defense. Wallace has 2.5 steals a game through two contests this season.

What Charlotte is missing

The admiration for the Thunder’s backcourt says something about Knueppel’s own standard. As a rookie in 2025-26 he started 80 of 81 games, averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and made 273 threes at 42.5 percent, the kind of volume that earned him a place on the All-Rookie First Team. Nearly six of every ten shots he took came from beyond the arc.

The Hornets are 2-1 without him. They beat the Brooklyn Nets 110-103 in the opener, were routed 128-81 at home by the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, and bounced back to beat the Miami Heat 115-110 on Saturday. The team listed his injury as a left hamstring strain when it ruled him out against Miami, alongside Coby White, Grant Williams and Kylan Boswell. His full rookie numbers and shot chart are on his player page.

What comes next

Charlotte hosts the Washington Wizards on Monday, October 26, at 7:00 p.m. ET, the first chance for Knueppel to make his season debut. Follow it on the Wizards-Hornets Game Center. The Hornets then visit the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday, October 28, while Gilgeous-Alexander and the unbeaten Thunder host the LA Clippers on Sunday night.