Charlotte Hornets rookie Ryan Kalkbrenner seems like he can’t miss.
In fact, the 23-year-old center didn’t miss a field-goal attempt until his sixth shot of the season. And misses have remained rare throughout the first month of the NBA season.
The rarest ever, actually.
Through 10 games, Kalkbrenner has hit 42 of 52 shots. That’s 80.8 percent from the field, the highest ever for any NBA player with at least 50 attempts over his first 10 games. Kalkbrenner surpassed the previous record holder, Yao Ming, who shot 72 percent (36 for 50) to begin his career with the Houston Rockets.
“It’s just a credit to my teammates who let me get easy looks,” Kalkbrenner told The Associated Press after shooting 3 of 4 from the field and scoring nine points in a 121-111 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. “I mean, it’s not my role to take tough shots, so of course I’m at a decent percentage, but my teammates do a really good job of finding me on dump-offs when I’m wide open and whatnot.
“So, I’m just glad I’m able to finish some of them.”
The value of Ryan Kalkbrenner in 20 seconds.
Charlotte blows a switch, but RK’s presence as a shot blocker forces Brunson to make an awkward pass.
Then he finishes a play from the dunker spot on the other end. pic.twitter.com/o48Y0nIDnO
— Matt Alquiza (@malquiza8) October 18, 2025
The 7-foot-1 center’s scoring efficiency is one of the reasons Kalkbrenner has been a surprise for the Hornets, which selected him with the 34th overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Kalkbrenner has started every game for Charlotte this season and is averaging 9.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
Kalkbrenner put up similar percentages during his college career at Creighton.
In four of his five seasons with the Bluejays, Kalkbrenner led the Big East in field-goal percentage, shooting 65.8 percent. He averaged 18.3 points per game over his last two seasons and was a third-team All-American in 2024–25. Although his usage numbers have dropped since joining the NBA, Kalkbrenner’s gaudy percentages suggest the big man knows how to find his spots.
“It’s been fun to watch him. We knew what we were gonna get when we drafted Ryan,” Hornets head coach Charles Lee told the media recently. “Offensively, his screening assists, his ability to offensive rebound and keep possessions alive or get us other possessions, and his ability to finish above the rim on some of these lobs — so, (he’s) just a dual threat.
“I love his basketball IQ to understand, ‘Where do I need to be in the dunker to be able to receive passes from guys?’ And so, our players feel really confident throwing him the ball because they love his hands.”
Kalkbrenner’s role doesn’t require him to create much offense for himself or his Charlotte teammates, but he makes the most of the scoring opportunities he gets near the basket.
During one four-game stretch in late October, he shot 21 of 22 from the field, and the combined distance of all 21 makes was about 30 feet. His lone miss in that span came on a shot that Washington Wizards center Alex Sarr blocked.
So far this season, though, Kalkbrenner’s accuracy hasn’t exactly translated to team success for the Hornets (3-7), which sit in fourth place in the Southeast Division.
“Games come fast, and win or lose, you’ve got to be able to turn the page,” Kalkbrenner told the AP. “You can’t get too high when you get a win and play well. You can’t get too low when it’s a bad game and you don’t play well. The games come fast. The next opponent’s not going to feel bad for you because you’re playing bad or had a bad game or whatever.”
