Coach Charles Lee and the team address the "missed opportunity" and the shooting woes that led to a 94-87 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers despite the national spotlight and the pre-game buzz generated by the ESPN broadcast. By DIAMOND VENCES
January hasn’t been the most thrilling of months for Ryan Kalkbrennner.
Spending a good chunk of it nursing a left elbow sprain, which sidelined the Charlotte Hornets rookie for 10 games after he started in all but one of the team’s initial 26 games, didn’t leave him in the best of moods. It’s hard to be chipper while powerless to help teammates.
“Obviously it’s no fun, but when you have something like that happen, you’ve got to make the best of it,” Kalkbrenner said. “So, you take the three weeks to let your body reset through a long year and actually get better physically in a lot of ways. You also get a chance to look at the game from a different viewpoint and can learn a few things.
“So, I tried my best to stay locked in on everything I was doing with the weight room and watching film, watching the game so I could learn and grow even though I wasn’t on the court.”
Ryan Kalkbrenner of the Charlotte Hornets plays against the Brooklyn Nets during the game at Spectrum Center. Jacob Kupferman Getty Images
That shows the mentality Kalkbrenner is already developing. Instead of sulking or getting deeply frustrated at a situation that he didn’t have much control over, Kalkbrenner went back to school in a sense.
He was able to learn a few things that he might otherwise not have seen.
“Watching from the bench is a different perspective,” Kalkbrenner said. “You’re looking through it from the coach’s lens and the players’ lens because you’re not playing. So, you just have to notice little things like screening angles, how different actions work, why they work.
“And you start to pick up on those when you get back on the court, that you get to execute them better because you understand them better.”
Kalkbrenner is still working back into a rhythm, appearing in the Hornets’ past eight games including Saturday’s 119-115 win over the Washington Wizards at Spectrum Center. He’s attempting to refine some aspects of his game and push it up closer to his lofty standards.
It’s one of the benefits of studying himself on film.
“I had to pick up my physicality a little bit, especially that Clippers game,” Kalkbrenner said. “Wasn’t very happy with it. And then I think by the end of the road trip, I was feeling much better. I don’t know, I’m pretty critical of myself, so I know that anything cuts down. Like most, I’m probably too much of a perfectionist.
“So, when I’m out there, I make a shot or do something good, I’m like, ‘Well, I was supposed to do that, so why should I be happy about it?’ So, mostly just things that I can do better at is the stuff that I was watching.”
The Charlotte Observer spoke with Kalkbrenner about the NBA grind, the biggest difference between playing in college and the pros, being a new father and more:
Roderick Boone: What’s it been like, facing some of the bigger, stronger centers in the NBA so far?
Ryan Kalkbrenner: It’s just the next level of physicality from college. These guys were all at the top of college physicality, so you’re just playing the best, most physical guys out there. So, you’ve just got to bring your A game every night. There’s going to be no nights where you can just kind of float through the game and get through it. You can, you’re just not going to play very good.
So, if you want to be good, you’ve got to be locked in and dialed in every on single box-out, every single contest, all that. It’s got to be super physical. And if you can do that, then you’re good.
Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner (11) drives between Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) and forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) for a slam dunk during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Matt Kelley For the Observer
RB: Can you explain the difficulty in doing that? If you’re playing all these games and back-to-backs, how do you mentally just lock in on every play?
RK: It just takes a physical toll. You’ve just got to be, No. 1, locked in outside of the games to take care of your body so when you get into the games your body feels as good as possible, as prepared as possible. Because I’m a big dude. The guys I’m guarding are big dudes. There’s a lot of physical contact happening.
So, it’s not as easy as just ‘box a dude out.’ You’re trying to box out Andre Drummond and Jalen Duren. And those guys are big like that. They’re huge. So you’ve got to be ready for that and mentally and physically prepared to move.
RB: How’s the transition from college going, and how does being a pro basketball player compare to what you thought it would be?
RK: It’s been great so far. The only thing that’s really, not necessarily surprised me, but definitely the hardest transition is just how many games there are and how quick they come. Unless it’s a conference tournament, you’re not playing any back-to-backs in college, and you’re not traveling in between them.
So, that part’s been different. But it’s you just got to be even more focused on your routine and your rehab and all that. And whether you do it or not, the games are coming. So, you either learn to do it and you do well or you don’t do it and you fail well.
Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner, front, fights to maintain control of a loose ball with New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson during action at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. The Knicks defeated the Hornets 129-101. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
RB: How much are you enjoying being a dad, and how tough is it for you to get that sleep the way you want to come back from these road trips?
RK: I’ve been enjoying it so much. It’s the best thing in the world to be a dad. But my wife’s been amazing. She’s a rock star and has, No. 1, got our baby sleeping a lot, which is all her. She’s done a great job helping that baby sleep, but she also does a lot of night duties knowing what I have to do on the court. So she’s been amazing helping out with that. Couldn’t be more lucky to have her.
RB: What about that part? How much do you appreciate her being able to kind of help take care of this, especially with your rookie year, to make sure that you’re focused?
RK: It takes a special kind of woman to be an NBA player’s wife or coaching staff’s wife, who are always on the road all the time, and they leave so much on their plate to do at home and with the kids and with all that other stuff. And she just kills it, makes my job easy or my life easy at home because you do a 10-day road trip and you come home and you’re just gassed.
And then you come home, you’ve got to do all these extra things that make it hard to recover back home. And she’s like, ‘I got everything ready for you. Just take a nap.’ I’m like, ‘This helps so much.’ So she’s amazing, and she’s done a great job helping me with this transition.
RB: Can you explain what’s it been like going through this whole situation as rookies together with Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Liam McNeeley, does that make it easier for you?
RK: Oh yeah, it definitely makes it easier for you. You got four guys going through the same thing all together. If I’m starting with anything, or I’m thinking something’s off, I just go up to one of them. It’s like, ‘Y’all notice this, too? Is something off?’ It’s just nice to be able to go through experiences with them, and bounce ideas off each other and learn with each other. So, that makes it so much easier.