LeBron James Praises Dalton Knecht as Former Tennessee Basketball Star Has Career-High in Lakers Win

Lakers superstar LeBron James said the Lakers "leaned on Dalton Knecht" in the win over Memphis. The former Tennessee Volunteer had his best night as a pro.

Tanner Johnson | Nov 14, 2024

Oct 17, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht (4) shoots against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images / Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

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Tennessee Volunteers

Lakers superstar LeBron James said the Lakers "leaned on Dalton Knecht" in the win over Memphis. The former Tennessee Volunteer had his best night as a pro.

Tennessee fans already know how special Dalton Knecht is. Now, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are starting to learn it too.

Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged to reporters that Knecht "was the catalyst for our comeback." The 2024 No. 17 pick delivered a career-high 19 points, shooting an impressive 7-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from beyond the arc. His energy and performance helped Los Angeles overcome a 96-91 deficit in the fourth quarter and beat the Grizzlies 128-123. It was a scoring explosion that looked familiar to Vols fans after seeing Knecht go ballistic on defenses all of last season.

"We leaned on Dalton Knecht; that's what we did," James said. "AD (Anthony Davis) got in foul trouble, and our first-round pick hit a hot streak. He looked like he was back at Tennessee, so we leaned on him. I just tried to sprinkle in a couple plays here and there."

Knecht is averaging 7.3 points while shooting 37.2 percent from 3-point range this season. He is slowly becoming a bigger part of the Lakers rotation, playing 31 minutes last night. He played more minutes than any other bench player by far with the next closest to being D'Angelo Russell at 20 minutes.

Knecht’s fall to the Lakers in the draft was a stroke of luck for them. Despite being the best scorer in college basketball last season, he was passed up by several teams due to his age. Just as Tennessee fans had predicted, he is making those other teams look foolish for passing on him.