Honors keep pouring in for the streaking Charlotte Hornets.
Barely 24 hours after Brandon Miller was named the Eastern Conference player of the week, the league on Tuesday announced Kon Knueppel has been selected as the Eastern Conference rookie of the month and Charles Lee was tabbed as the Eastern Conference coach of the month.
That’s three consecutive nods for Knueppel and Lee is a first-time honoree.
Knueppel joins LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Larry Johnson, Brandon Miller, Raymond Felton and Emeka Okafor as the players in franchise history to collect three rookie of the month awards. No rookie in franchise history has taken the honor more than three times.
The 20-year-old Knueppel outpaced all rookies in total points (302), made field goals (105), 3-pointers (45) and free throws (47). He also ranked fourth among first-year players in rebounds (101) and assists (62), and sits third overall in the NBA 3-pointers (166).
If that’s not enough, besides scoring a career-best 34 points against the Dallas Mavericks in a duel with fellow Duke product Cooper Flagg, Knueppel became the third rookie in franchise history to record 300 or more points along with at least 100 rebounds in a calendar month. He joins a list that includes Johnson and Alonzo Mourning.
Under Lee’s guidance, the Hornets compiled an 11-6 record in January, representing the most wins in the conference, and rattled off a six-game winning streak. The Hornets were the only team in the league that ranked fifth or better in offensive rating as well as defensive rating during the month, and they registered a plus-151 point differential on the road, tying for the highest point differential on the road in a calendar month in NBA history.
That was bolstered by their 55-point victory in Utah, which was franchise record for margin of victory on the road with a 55-point win at Utah, and limiting defending champ Oklahoma City Thunder to its season-low point total in a 27-point road win.
Lee is the fourth head coach in franchise history to win coach of the month, ending a drought of more than a decade. The last time it happened was during the 2015-16 season under Steve Clifford.
Paul Silas won the award twice, and Larry Brown also grabbed the honor once.
Prior to learning about winning the award, Lee said he welcomes the recognition the Hornets are getting lately.
“It’s a great feeling,” Lee said. “We’re all human. We love to hear that we’re doing a good job. But hearing that you’re doing a good job still means that you just got to keep working, got to keep your head down. We also know that the same people that are saying ‘good job’ at times are saying ‘bad job.’
“And so our focus is on the people internally, the people in our hive, the people that we interact with all day. We understand it’s kind of like a bunker down mentality, and we’re all we got. So, it’s nice to hear, but we know what the main focus is.”