Twitter Gold: Kon Mania Building

Honestly, Duke fans were probably confident that Kon Knueppel would do well in his rookie season in the NBA, but probably most of us figured he’d spend a year getting his feet wet and emerge as a fine player as his career develops. But this? Who expected this?

Hype can always get out of hand, but Indiana Pacers legend Reggie Miller is on board. You’ll be amazed at what he says here.

But when you see a 20-year old rookie doing stuff like this, it’s hard not to be amazed.

This chart is really impressive, even if flawed. It compares Knueppel’s rookie season (to date, anyway) to a lot of earlier rookies who had great first seasons in the league.

It’s remarkable who he’s statistically ahead of: Magic Johnson, Zion Williamson, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’ Neal among others. However, there is no mention of Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 37.6 points and 27 rebounds his first time out. Nor is there any mention of Larry Bird, who was Rookie of the Year ahead of Johnson, or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was also thoroughly dominant as a rookie.

Still, it gives some sense of just what a revelation he has been for many. Knueppel’s future is exceedingly bright.

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