Selected in 11th position in the 2021 Draft by Charlotte, James Bouknight had a disappointing “rookie” season.
Arrived in the NBA surrounded by fairly high expectations after a very good “sophomore” season at UConn, the rear finally quickly fell into oblivion in North Carolina, within a young Hornets team, but whose rotation very quickly formed without him.
Unlike most of his comrades selected in the “lottery” in the summer of 2021, James Bouknight was not a key part of his team. In total, the native of the Bronx has played only 31 games, for 10 minutes and 4.6 points on average, while the Hornets tried to secure their ticket for the playoffs.
Inevitably disappointed, the rear preferred to retain the lessons learned throughout this eventful first exercise with the pros. ” If I had to describe this season, I would take the example of roller coasters. There were a few ups and downs that I could have handled better. But overall, I think I learned a lot. »
A bad start with James Borrego
James Bouknight’s first rookie season was indeed not the calmest. We think in particular of this clash with James Borrego, during a defeat against Miami just before the weekend of the All-Star Game. Frustrated by a remark from his coach, the rookie got carried away, joining the locker room, escorted by security…
Result: the young fullback remained on the bench for the next 18 matches. A far from ideal scenario for a “rookie” who seeks to gain the confidence of his coach.
In summary, James Bouknight has clearly paid for his immaturity this season. But thanks to the advice of veterans like Isaiah Thomas or Montrezl Harrell, he intends to learn from his mistakes, to get off to a good start next year, and launch his career for good after a difficult first year.
« I am a stubborn person, I have a hard head. I want to have it all, right away, so it’s frustrating sometimes. But these guys, who went through these situations before me, help me put things into perspective. They tell me that everything will work out, and that I have the talent to play a dozen years in this league. It’s definitely beneficial to hear these things. »
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Miles Bridges | 80 | 35.5 | 49.1 | 33.1 | 80.2 | 1.1 | 5.9 | 7.0 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 20.2 |
| Lamelo Ball | 75 | 32.3 | 42.9 | 38.9 | 87.2 | 1.4 | 5.2 | 6.7 | 7.6 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 20.1 |
| Terry Rozier | 73 | 33.7 | 44.4 | 37.4 | 85.2 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 19.3 |
| Gordon Hayward | 49 | 31.9 | 45.9 | 39.1 | 84.6 | 0.8 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 3.6 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 15.9 |
| Kelly Oubre, Jr. | 76 | 26.3 | 44.0 | 34.5 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.5 | 15.0 |
| Montrezl Harrell | 25 | 20.9 | 64.5 | 0.0 | 69.2 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 4.9 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 11.4 |
| P.j. Washington | 65 | 27.2 | 47.0 | 36.5 | 71.6 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 10.3 |
| Isaiah Thomas | 17 | 12.9 | 43.3 | 39.7 | 93.3 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 8.3 |
| Cody Martin | 71 | 26.3 | 48.2 | 38.4 | 70.1 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 4.0 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 7.7 |
| Mason Plumlee | 73 | 24.6 | 64.1 | 0.0 | 39.2 | 2.4 | 5.3 | 7.7 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 6.5 |
| Jalen Mcdaniels | 55 | 16.3 | 48.4 | 38.0 | 73.6 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 6.2 |
| James Bouknight | 31 | 9.8 | 34.8 | 34.7 | 87.1 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.6 |
| Ish Smith | 37 | 13.8 | 39.5 | 40.0 | 63.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 4.5 |
| Nick Richards | 50 | 7.3 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 69.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 3.0 |
| J.t. Thor | 33 | 7.9 | 43.6 | 25.9 | 60.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 2.0 |
| Vernon Carey, Jr. | 4 | 4.2 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 66.7 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| Kai Jones | 21 | 3.0 | 64.3 | 50.0 | 37.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.0 |
| Scottie Lewis | 2 | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Arnold Kulboka | 2 | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
