How Kon Knuepel Uses Larry Bird’s ‘I’m Sick’ Quote as Inspiration

When did the 2025-26 NBA season begin. Cooper Flagg was the one rookie everyone was focusing onand it was assumed that the Rookie of the Year race was a one-man show. Well, the regular season is less than two months away, and Charlotte Hornets shooter Knuppel couldFlagg’s former teammate at Duke, is certainly in the mix for this award as well.

Suddenly, the Hornets went from near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings the last three seasons to being in the mix for a spot in the tournament, having been one of the hottest teams in the NBA. Knueppel has his fingerprints all over Charlotte’s success this year, and he’s on the verge of making history.

Except I got closer Keegan Murray’s record of 206 threes as a rookie, as Knuepel currently has 186 threes this season, the Hornets rookie will also join two legendary Boston Celtics players if his averages hold up. Larry Bird and Paul Pierce are the only players averaging at least 15 points and five rebounds per game while shooting over 40 percent from 3-point range.

Kon Knuepel dances through the defense for a bucket 🔥pic.twitter.com/irgIh7ozpp

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 20, 2026

Knueppel is currently averaging 18.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range, which would put his name alongside those of Bird and Pierce. This would be quite ironic, especially considering that Knuppel has pulled inspiration from the way Bird played and talked about the game during his playing and coaching days.

“There was a Larry Bird quote. My dad has these sheets of all the NBA players in quotes and good body language, bad body language,” Knueppel recently told VCNC’s Daniel Stein in Charlotte. “And one of them was, ‘The guy watching the ball go out of bounds without diving because it makes me sick.’ That was one of them. I think about it all the time.”

As good as he shot and scored for the Hornets, Knueppel really made a name for himself as a rookie with his hustle and determination to make winning plays in Charlotte.

Between bouncing around the ground for 50-50 balls or making unselfish decisions, Knuepel always looks like he’s involved in the Hornets’ most successful plays. Of course, he is also the one who always puts his body on the line and gives maximum effort because of the inspiration he drew from Bird’s quote.

After all, as Knueppel told Stein, “If you’re going to compete, you might as well give it everything you’ve got and put your body on the line a little bit.”

While it may be a little early to start comparing Knuepel to Bird, the Hornets youngster does share a lot of similar qualities with the Celtics legend. Between this and following in Bird’s footsteps through his own words, Knuepel is surely on his way to becoming one of the best players in the NBA.