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Bill Simmons 'guarantees' that a member of the Charlotte Hornets will make the 2028 US Olympic basketball team

Originally posted on Charlotte Hornets on SI
By Matt Alquiza | Last updated Sep 11, 2025 4:39 PM ET

With EuroBasket winding down and NBA training camps on the horizon, popular NBA podcast host Zach Lowe had a segment on an episode of 'The Zach Lowe Show' that spent time discussing potential members of the 2028 United States Olympic basketball team with Bill Simmons.

Although Brandon Miller spent time with the USA Select Team last summer as the red, white, and blue prepared for the 2024 Olympic Games, it felt unlikely that either Lowe or Simmons would bring up a member of the Charlotte Hornets in their prognostications.

LaMelo Ball has minimal history with the USA Basketball program. Liam McNeeley didn't do quite enough in college to warrant mention. And the aforementioned Miller's future is shrouded with question marks due to the wrist injury that ended his 2024-25 season.

Not so fast.

Simmons, a prominent voice in NBA media, 'guaranteed' that Kon Knueppel, the swingman from Duke that Charlotte selected at number four overall in the 2025 NBA Draft, will make the 2028 US Olympic squad.

Simmons locks Knueppel into the 2028 Olympic team

Here's what Simmons had to say: '[Kon] can play multiple positions. Can switch on defense. Knows where to go and what to do - very Derrick White-ish. Knows how to fit in with other guys and can shoot. I'm just betting on, in three years, it will make complete sense that he's on the team.'

Simmons went on to say, 'he just checks so many boxes for the international thing. He won't care if he plays that much. He'll be ready if you need him. He has insurance at the swing spots. He can rebound. He's the kind of guy that would be on like, Serbia, or Lithuania and you'd be like 'god that guy is killing us. How does he have 12 rebounds and four threes?' He's a must for me.

Lowe, the host of the podcast, was flabbergasted by Simmons' take, but he made the salient point that Knueppel 'went to the right university' to be considered for the team. Duke University and USA basketball have deep ties, from Mike Krzyzewski previously coaching both squads to Grant Hill, the former NBA All-Star, now general managing the program.

It would be shocking to see Knueppel make the 2028 Olympic team, but not impossible. Like Simmons says, Knueppel's play style is the idealistic archetype of a jack-of-all-trades bench player on a loaded national team. If he continues to hoop in the NBA like he has at every level of his basketball life, he'll undoubtedly be in contention to suit up for Team USA in Los Angeles in 2028.