[Game] 73/82: Kings @ Hornets 24 MAR 2026, 4pm PT/7pm ET

[Caccia]

This would be a great time to play the deep bench...except there is no deep bench.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Summarily LaMelo jacking up 30 footers with 20 seconds on the clock is unstoppable when he’s making them and terrible game-killing stupidity when he’s not.

I mean, you can say that about Steph Curry, too. Ball's reputation is more than a little embellished.

 

[Caccia]

It helps when you sag off your man like ten feet and let them shoot threes.

It sounds like the coaching staff failed to make any defensive adjustments for this game. Also, I note that Charlotte has 46 rebounds to 28 for Sacramento, in the first three quarters.

 

[jiimbob]

Kon Knueppel is the Rookie of the Year, but he's not going to get it, for the same reason why Jason Williams didn't get it in '99.

I didn’t think Knueppel would be this good. Crazy that Duke didn’t win it all last season.

 

[hrdboild]

Summarily LaMelo jacking up 30 footers with 20 seconds on the clock is unstoppable when he’s making them and terrible game-killing stupidity when he’s not.

LaVar Ball is a proud papa right now, if he's watching this one! That's what he calls "playing the game the right way".

 

[Warhawk]

Not listed but also "Out for the Season" at this point... most of the fan base.

Yep. Haven't watched a game in forever it seems like. I caught part of the game driving home from work and I certainly am not going to spend time watching the Titanic go down yet again.

 

[Sluggah]

If we can get it under 40 by the 6 minute mark, we might have a chance…of only losing by 30.

 

[Tetsujin]

Dylan’s worst game as a King. He’s sorta been pressing ever since coming back and this is probably the worst it’s been.

 

[Sluggah]

Dylan’s worst game as a King. He’s sorta been pressing ever since coming back and this is probably the worst it’s been.

But still rebounding at a stupid clip

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

On pace to see the Kings test the “you can have more than six fouls if it means your team isn’t going to be able to field five players otherwise” rule

The unfortunate thing is that the team doesn't get to decide which fouled-out player gets to stay in.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I am suddenly super interested in knowing whether Kon Knueppel, or any of his siblings, have middle names, and what they might be?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

There's been co-Rookies of the Year more recently than that, Kyle. Not much more recently, but still...

 

[SacTownKid]

No broken records is a victory.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Not the Imperial March!

 

[hrdboild]

I am suddenly super interested in knowing whether Kon Knueppel, or any of his siblings, have middle names, and what they might be?

Kash Knueppel is a name I would have rejected as too implausible to be real had I read it in a piece of fiction, and yet somehow it is also the most plausible of Kon's four brothers. Kash and Kon got out easy compared to Kager, Kinston, and Kidman.

EDIT: Also... while we certainly can hope their middle names don't begin with a K, if they do have middle names there is a 100% chance that they also all begin with the same letter, right? And I hope it's an O.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Kash Knueppel is a name I would have rejected as too implausible to be real had I read it in a piece of fiction, and yet somehow it is also the most plausible of Kon's four brothers. Kash and Kon got out easy compared to Kager, Kinston, and Kidman.

EDIT: Also... while we certainly can hope their middle names don't begin with a K, if they do have middle names there is a 100% chance that they also all begin with the same letter, right? And I hope it's an O.

I kind of hope it's a U, so we can start looking at his dad with the side eye.

 

[hrdboild]

I kind of hope it's a U, so we can start looking at his dad with the side eye.

So many possibilities!

 

[NewArena]

Lamelo would be amazing if he were efficient. He shoots like 40% or less from the field and i just don’t get it

 

[Spike]

Folks. I looked up his middle name. Spoiler: we were only looking at half of the alphanumeric possibilities.

 

[Tetsujin]

Folks. I looked up his middle name. Spoiler: we were only looking at half of the alphanumeric possibilities.

Gotta admit, times have changed but I was not expecting his middle name to be Adolf.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

Maxime Raynaud and Moussa Diabaté each had at least fourteen points in the first half, and neither player broke twenty for the game.

 

[hrdboild]

Folks. I looked up his middle name. Spoiler: we were only looking at half of the alphanumeric possibilities.

After this whole basketball thing, he could have a nice side career as a 90s Hip-Hop or R&B artist:

 

[KingsFanSince85]

Summarily LaMelo jacking up 30 footers with 20 seconds on the clock is unstoppable when he’s making them and terrible game-killing stupidity when he’s not.

I mean, you can say that about Steph Curry, too. Ball's reputation is more than a little embellished.

You can say it about Curry, but it would be wrong.

Curry has led his team to 4 NBA titles, the best regular season record in history, won 2 MVP’s — and is a sure fire hall of famer. Since hitting his stride as a player, the Warriors have really only missed the postseason and not been a threat when he’s been out of the lineup for long periods of time. Clearly his style of play and production has proven to be far more effective than ineffective and far more consistent than inconsistent.

Ball, meanwhile, has never even been involved in a postseason game and has almost exclusively been part of an under .500 franchise.

How exactly is his reputation embellished? The kid only plays in roughly 49 games per season and hasn’t been overly impactful when he does play. His team has lost a lot more games than it has won over the past 6 seasons. His reputation seems pretty accurate. Oft-injured and underperforming expectations.

 

[dude12]

Now thats a loss

 

[ESP47]

The Hornets play such an ugly form of basketball but it was effective. Doug is in way above his head and couldn't make adjustments. The Kings just continued to pointlessly double inside the arc and allow wide open 3 point shooters all game long.

 

[The_Jamal]

The Hornets play such an ugly form of basketball but it was effective. Doug is in way above his head and couldn't make adjustments. The Kings just continued to pointlessly double inside the arc and allow wide open 3 point shooters all game long.

I'd hire the first coach that says "i promise I won't help off the corner shooter, leaving him wide open every possession". This was a massive problem under Brown and its continued with Christie

 

[Löwenherz]

My status has been downgraded to HMBO -- hockey might be on.

I’m on a two-way contract with the Lounge.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

You can say it about Curry, but it would be wrong.

Curry has led his team to 4 NBA titles, the best regular season record in history, won 2 MVP’s — and is a sure fire hall of famer.

You can miss me with that: "RINGZ~!" is not the threshold for whether jacking up logo threes is stupid or not. I'm more of an "absolute value" type person when it comes to **** like that. It's stupid whether a roleplayer does it, or a borderline All-Star, or a Hall of Famer.

Ball, meanwhile, has never even been involved in a postseason game and has almost exclusively been part of an under .500 franchise.

Ball, up until now, has only had one healthy season in his career, and they won 43 games that year. He's healthy this year, and the Hornets are on pace to once again win 43 games. I'm not in the business of calling players losers just because they can't stay healthy. That might matter for postseason awards, it doesn't matter for whether a dude is nice or not. And LaMelo Ball is nice.

How exactly is his reputation embellished?

Because his reputation is overwhelmingly influenced by how people feel about his father. People who don't watch Hornets games and just look at box scores and standings judge LaMelo more harshly than they would another player of his talent and skill level, because they still have hard feelings about how obnoxious LaVar is.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

At this point, I think I'm designating myself as an honorary member of the inaugural National Basketball Association PUP list. Until further notice.

 

[macadocious]

I am suddenly super interested in knowing whether Kon Knueppel, or any of his siblings, have middle names, and what they might be?

Back in the olden days of the late 1900s, I had a boss who had three daughters whose names were something like Krista, Kylie and Kate. He told me this and gave me this look.