Charlotte Hornets Win NBA Summer League Championship
Not only is it the first Summer League championship for the Hornets, it’s the first time they’ve ever made the Summer League playoffs.
Do not adjust your screen — the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association have won a (NBA Summer League) Championship.
Thanks to a 21-point, five-rebound performance from #4 overall draft pick Kon Knueppel (Duke) in the championship game, the Hornets secured the title with an 83-78 win over the Sacramento Kings at Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday night. Knueppel was named Most Valuable Player of the championship game.
The Hornets went 6-0 in Summer League play, with the undefeated run resulting in their first-ever Summer League championship.
Sure, the bar for success for the current incarnation of the Charlotte Hornets is low. The last time they made it to a play-in game? Three seasons ago.
The last time they made the playoffs proper? 2016, when they lost a heartbreaking first round series in game 7 to the Miami Heat.
The team has never gone deeper than the second round of the playoffs, and the last time that happened was in 2002, before the original Hornets moved to New Orleans.
This summer, however, has given hope to Buzz City for the first time since the organization drafted LaMelo Ball in 2020.
To be clear, the Summer League is nothing like the NBA proper. It’s a time to test out young pros, draft picks and developmental league players. Knueppel, the MVP, isn’t even 20-years-old.
However, the team whose colors and players defined the 1990s in Charlotte has made promising moves over the offseason and during the NBA Draft. Though the team has a penchant for missing the mark with its Tobacco Road draft picks from Duke and Carolina, Knueppel is a highly-rated pick, and the Hornets desperately needed a shooting guard. Second round pick Ryan Kalkbrenner (Creighton) had a strong summer league performance, and could add depth at center.
In addition to the draft picks, Charlotte has made encouraging moves during the offseason. New signing Collin Sexton has been a reliable guard for the Utah Jazz, and is one of those players who could have a breakout season in the right environment.
The Hornets also still have LaMelo Ball, who has a higher ceiling than any Hornets since Kemba Walker — if he can avoid injury this season. The 2021 Rookie of the Year and 2022 NBA All-Star has since struggled to stay healthy, appearing in an average of only 35 of the team’s 82 regular season games over the last three seasons. Injuries were one of the reasons the Hornets were eager to unload Mark Williams for draft pick Liam McNeeley (UConn), among others.
However, we’re not high on Hornets hopium quite yet. In addition to the looming fear of another injury to Ball, you never know how draft picks are going to work out - even though Charlotte has had quite a few opportunities to pick early in recent years.
Additionally, there’s the problem of Miles Bridges, who pleaded no contest to a felony domestic violence charge in 2022, and was charged with violating his probation and a protection order in 2023. He was suspended by the NBA for 30 games and remained unsigned for a season, but the Hornets decided to re-sign him last July for a reported $75 million.
Anecdotally, the team’s decision to stay with Bridges has kept some potential fans away from the Spectrum Center, and Charlotte Observer editor Paige Masten made the case — one we agree with — that Bridges shouldn’t have returned to the squad:
The Hornets shouldn’t let him see the court at all. They cannot defend Bridges — or themselves — anymore going forward. They cannot sell Bridges jerseys in the fan shop as if he is a figure that kids can look up to. They cannot claim to value their female fans while an alleged abuser sits atop the roster. The only way to make it clear they do not tolerate this behavior is to cut ties with him immediately.
Should the Hornets successfully trade Bridges before the season begins it may initially hurt the team’s performance, but given the successful Summer the team has on and off the court, it would be another encouraging sign that it’s time for fans to give the QC’s OG major league team another shot.
Editor’s Note: We want to hear from you. Should Y’all Weekly give the Hornets a shot in our coverage this year?