Inside The Jazz

LeBron James Sounds Off on Dalton Knecht's Performance vs. Jazz

The Los Angeles Lakers rookie caught fire against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night.

Jared Koch

Nov 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
Nov 16, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) looks on against the New Orleans Pelicans during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
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The Utah Jazz couldn't escape adding onto their losing streak during Tuesday night's meeting vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, as they came up short 118-124 to effectively drop their third-straight contest, and fall to 0-2 within the NBA Cup's group stage.

In the end, it was a huge night for the Lakers' rookie Dalton Knecht, who finished the matchup posting a game and career-high 37 points, thanks to a stellar shooting performance from beyond the arc-- totaling 9-12 from deep (seven in the second half) alongside five rebounds and a steal.

In just his fourth career start, Knecht has already shown more than worthy of his 17th-overall selection during this summer's draft, also catching some considerable respect from teammate LeBron James in the process.

After the win vs. Utah, LeBron kept things honest when a reporter asked what he saw in Knecht before the Lakers selected him in this summer's draft:

"I don’t know. The same s*** I said last year," James said. "Everybody on the internet calls me a liar all the time. What am I now? I've been said it... I watched Tennessee a lot. I did not think [Dalton Knecht] was going to fall to us... I have no idea how that happened but very grateful and very happy that he's here... [The front office] didn’t find DK … the other 16 teams f***** it up."

Knecht has begun his rookie season with a solid start, averaging 11.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on an impressive 46.4% clip from three-point range. An electric night against the Jazz helped provide a considerable boost to these numbers, and he could be on track to keep them moving up after Tuesday night's showing.

During this summer, the Jazz did have an opportunity to select Knecht with their 10th-overall pick, even having some reported interest in the Tennessee product leading up to the draft. Instead, Danny Ainge and Co. opted to ride with Colorado's Cody Williams-- a decision that could haunt Utah for years to come, depending on how the next few years shake out.

The Jazz will have two more chances to get right against Knecht, LeBron, and the Lakers later this season, with their next meeting scheduled in just under two weeks on December 1st, this time on Utah's home floor at Delta Center.

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Jared Koch
JARED KOCH

Jared Koch is the Associate Editor of The Frozen Rope — SI.com's team website covering the Utah Jazz. He's covered the NBA and NFL for the past two years, also being the Managing Editor of Inside The Kings — SI.com's team website covering the Sacramento Kings.

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