beginner Ryan Kalkbrenner He converted the first shot of his career NBA. Then he scored the second goal. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. Ultimately, he missed. It has happened, but not often. In his first 10 matches In the league basketball United States player 23 years old who acts in The Charlotte Hornets made 80.7% of their two-point and three-point shots combined, 42 of 52. Such effectiveness in this field in the first ten matches of his career has not been achieved by anyone in the history of the best basketball in the world.
The previous best record among players who took at least 50 shots in their first ten NBA games was 72% achieved by the Chinese Yao Ming in Houston Rocketswith 36 out of 50. Derek Livelyl Dallas MavericksHe started his career at 70.5% in ten games, 36 of 51.
“It’s just a credit to my teammates, who let me get easy shots,” said Kalkbrenner, who measures the team’s performance. 2.13 metres. “It’s not my role to make difficult shotsOf course I have a respectable percentage. But my teammates do a really good job of finding me on passes when I’m wide open. So I’m happy to complete some of them.
“Some of them”? Convert a large majority. He started five out of five in his debut and that statistic hasn’t dropped much since. “He has a great way with him. His process is meticulous. He’s focused on impacting the game the best he can,” praised Charlotte coach Charles Lee.
But Kalkbrenner’s efficiency shouldn’t be a surprise: The center didn’t miss much in college, either. He led the Eastern Conference of Collegiate Basketball (NCAA) in field goal percentage in each of his final four years wearing the jersey. Creighton Blue Jays He was just a few steps away from being named that region’s champion five times (he was second in his conference in his first five seasons in college). He finished that course with 65.8%; No one tops that on the Division I Men’s Top 200 Field Goals List. Not Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, or David Robinson, for example.
Kalkbrenner was 20 of 22 shooting for Creighton against Texas-Rio Grande Valley in a game last season. The only player in men’s NCAA Division I history with a better record of having at least 20 shots was Bill Walton, who produced a 21-for-22 masterpiece for UCLA in 1973 against Memphis.
But in the NBA the opponents are much bigger, and the defenses are much stronger than in college. Kalkbrenner was not deterred. In a four-game series from October 25-30 He made 21 of 22 from the fieldWith the following equation: eight hits, then one miss, then 13 consecutive correct shots. The only mistake was an attempt that was blocked by Alex Sarr of the Washington Wizards. The combined distance of those twenty-one shots was about thirty feet, and almost all of them reached the rim. His average to this point is 9.2 points per game.
“I think we knew what we were getting when we drafted Ryan,” Lee said. “But he continues to impress us defensively, answering at the rim, helping us control the paint or protect the paint.”
Kalkbrenner, a second-round pick in the 2025 NBA draft, knows he’s still learning. But it’s clear the Hornets could have gotten a trade, simply based on his effectiveness. “The games come fast, and whether you win or lose, you have to be able to turn the page,” Kalkbrenner admitted. “You can never get too excited when you win and play well.” “You can’t be too frustrated when you’re having a bad game and you’re not playing well. Games come quickly. The next opponent isn’t going to feel sorry for you because you played poorly, or had a bad game, or whatever.”
Perhaps the craziest stat from his ten-game debut is this: He’s missed just three shots in five road games to start his career. He’s shooting an incredible 23-of-25 (92%) on two-pointers in road games, while also missing his only three-point attempt. “To be honest with you, I’d rather no one know my name and we were 9-0 or anything. I mean, I’m happy I’m playing well. But I just want to win,” Kalkbrenner said.
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