The Los Angeles Lakers are the sensation of the NBA. 10 wins and four losses, in one of the best starts in recent times. Six wins in a row, the last one in the Cup. There is LeBron James eternal, also Anthony Davis dominant since the Bubble (and healthy). And there is a rookie. It’s not Bronny James, who was in the spotlight.
His name is Dalton Knecht, he already shone in preseason and his explosion makes him a unique player in the purple and gold. Against the Utah Jazz he had an atomic game, with 37 points (22 in the third quarter and 18 in a row during a streak), 12/16 from the field, 9/12 from three-point range and five rebounds. He was the 17th pick in the draft, but his emergence is one to watch out for.
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The gym is like being at home. You listen to what you want, play basketball and disconnect from reality to flow.
Knecht is not a player who came out of nowhere. In fact, he arrived with considerable potential as a good college prospect at prestigious programs such as Northeastern JC, Northern Colorado and especially Tennessee. And he had earned it, as he jumped after becoming a gym rat and addicted to those sounds that only come from the work of one person to improve. “It’s being at home. You hear what you want, you play basketball and you disconnect from reality to flow,” he said at the time.
The Lakers chose him and with JJ Redick, who if he knows anything about shooters, the boy has made a name for himself. He has scored more than 14 points in four games (coinciding with the great Los Angeles streak) and reaching statistical lines of 19, 14, 27 and 37. “The 16 teams that passed on him must regret it. They screwed up,” said LeBron James to the rookie.
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Because he was already prepared and knew he was an elite shooter with a somewhat lanky physique but optimal for the NBA. But he combines it with a natural fluidity that few have. “From the first shot I knew I was in a state of grace,” he confessed. “I just let them fly,” he said. He appeals to feelings, and in the purple and gold it fits perfectly.
The 16 teams that passed on him must regret it. They screwed up
Against the Jazz, he took it to the max. He took shots, made most of them and unleashed a team that is different with spacing. He takes the load off LeBron and Davis, and his performance is only matched by Kobe Bryant, LeBron himself and D’Angelo Russell as players with nine or more three-pointers made in the sacred Hollywood robe, as well as matching the most three-pointers in rookie history.
And in Los Angeles they love rookies. It’s another part of the franchise’s DNA, which has always had names like Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant among the guys who came in as rookies and were legendary. There are already 1980s comparisons about Knecht, but beyond that it is true that he is special in an already special team.
It’s as if JJ Redick… had drafted JJ Redick
“He got hot quick. He has a heater in his hand,” said his coach JJ Redick. “It’s like JJ Redick drafted JJ Redick,” said journalist Skip Bayless about the hotshot. The Lakers have a supernova.
