The Charlotte Hornets’ Christmas season just took an unfortunate turn as Kon Knueppel rolled his right ankle late in the second quarter against the Orlando Magic on Friday night.
His awkward landing already looked bad on live. But now the broadcast team has published the slow-mo footage, and it showed exactly how ugly the injury looked.
Kon Knueppel’s Gruesome Right Ankle Injury on Landing Sparks Concern
Knueppel was going absolutely hard on Magic in the first quarter, scoring 16 points with a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep. Just to recap, he’d just set an NBA record days earlier, becoming the fastest player ever to reach 100 career threes.
Knueppel needed only 29 games to hit that century mark. Even Stephen Curry, branded as the best three-point shooter in the league, took 58 games to reach that crazy milestone as a rookie.
The rookie guard had been averaging 19.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game. But this hot start ended abruptly at Kia Center.
With the Hornets leading 57-48 in the final seconds of the first half, disaster hit in their locker room. Knueppel jumped to block a shot of Desmond Bane, but his foot landed on the floor in the worst way possible.
Here is where Knueppel rolled his right ankle pretty good.
Certainly seems like this will force him to miss some weeks, but we’ll wait and see what further tests show. pic.twitter.com/dA4CcyoEFf https://t.co/04LQyG9Eu5
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) December 27, 2025
The slow-mo footage captured the gruesome injury frame by frame, showing how devastatingly his ankle got twisted. Seeing the replay footage, it doesn’t look like he can return to the hardwood soon. Even in the best-case scenario, he will likely be sidelined for a couple of weeks.
However, the X-ray report came back negative after their 120-105 road victory, which provided some relief to the community. “The X-rays were negative,” Lee said, according to The Charlotte Observer. “We’ll get more information when we get back to Charlotte.”
Knueppel, despite being a rookie, had appeared in all 30 games for Charlotte this season since his debut. But the Ironman streak now faces serious jeopardy, with the franchise again back into survival mode.
Knueppel’s next update will come after further evaluation in Charlotte. Until then, Hornets fans are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping the ankle sprain isn’t as serious as that slow-motion footage suggested.
