Hornets’ Kon Knueppel ruled out of Magic clash with ankle injury

The hits never seem to stop coming for the Charlotte Hornets. The last thing they would want is some coal in their stockings, and that’s exactly what they got on the night after Christmas. On Friday night, Charlotte lost budding star and electric rookie Kon Knueppel to an ankle injury during their clash against the Orlando Magic.

In fact, the Hornets have ruled Knueppel out for the rest of the night as he tries to nurse his ankle injury, as per Hornets PR on X (formerly Twitter). The fourth overall pick of the 2025 NBA Draft put up 16 points on 5-7 shooting from the field in just 15 minutes of play before the halftime intermission.

Knueppel sustained a nasty twist of his right ankle as he went up to contest a layup attempt from Magic guard Desmond Bane. The Hornets guard was keeping in step with his man and even forced a miss floater from Bane. However, his right foot landed awkwardly on Bane’s left foot and he twisted it in gnarly fashion. No one should be surprised if this knock keeps Knueppel out for multiple games.

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

Considering how injury-ravaged the Hornets’ young stars have been, having Knueppel follow suit would be devastating for Charlotte.

Hornets keep losing their main men to injury

The Hornets have been ravaged by injuries to their key players over the past few years. The last thing they would want is for Knueppel, who’s been ridiculously good and consistent not just for a rookie, but for any NBA player, to suffer a similar fate.

LaMelo Ball has dealt with ankle woes all his career. Brandon Miller is currently dealing with shoulder problems, seeing as his shoulder is heavily wrapped. Knueppel seems to be surpassing those two as the Hornets’ main franchise cornerstone, so him missing time due to an ankle injury is just putting a damper on an otherwise incredible rookie campaign thus far.

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