Hornets Hive Cast – Ryan Kalkbrenner | NBA Draft 2025

Hornets Hive Cast – Ryan Kalkbrenner | NBA Draft 2025

Ryan Culbriner, our guest today here on the Hornets Hivecast. Congratulations. Welcome to Charlotte. Thank you so much. I’m excited to be here. Take me through your draft process cuz you were all over the mock drafts. There were some that had you really high, some that uh you know had you mocked in a lot of different places. I saw a couple that had you mocked as Charlotte. What was your draft process like? I mean, honestly, with that mock draft stuff, I didn’t really pay too much attention to that. I’m not really on social media that much, so I didn’t see a ton of it. And at the end of the day, I’m just listening to what my agents are telling me cuz they’re the ones talking to teams. But, uh, it was a fun draft process. I thought I had a bunch of really good workouts. It got a little tiring at the end because, you know, you’re doing all this traveling and stuff, but it was a good time and I’m I’m glad I ended up here. I think I’m in a great spot. when you worked out here in Charlotte, what stood out about the Hornets, the organization, and that workout in particular? I just liked how they operate. You can kind of, especially after playing college basketball, you can kind of tell how people operate and if that’s going to translate to, you know, winning and getting better and, you know, you can tell this team and organization is really committed to doing things the right way to to win and get better. So, that’s a really exciting thing to be a part of. And, you know, it’s a great as a player, it’s a great place to grow and further your career. So, it’s awesome. in terms of setting foot now here in Charlotte and starting the process of preparing yourself for your first NBA season. Obviously, there’s a very high ceiling for you. No one gets the NBA without it, but you’ve had the benefit of five years of college basketball, four as the Big East offensive player of the year. How ready do you feel at this point in your career, in your life for the challenge in front of you? Yeah, I definitely feel like I can step in and make an impact right away. I mean, obviously, like you said, I got room to grow in a lot of areas and it’s just going to keep getting better and better, but I feel like I can come in, contribute right away, help us win some games. I feel like whatever that role is, I’m going to do to the best of my ability. And, you know, the coach is going to kind of decide that, too, based on how I’m playing in practices and whatnot. But, I’m just excited to be in the NBA and help help a team win. So, I’m excited to be here. The D is what you’re known for. Obviously, fourtime defensive player of the year. That’s rare in any conference, let alone one as prestigious as the Big East. But a lot of fans are particularly enamored with your three-point shooting ability. Uh sometimes for the taller players, I have no idea what this is like cuz I was never one of them, but uh that’s not something that necessarily came naturally. When did you start exploring your range with your offensive game and really incorporating that deeply into your game? Yeah, I started trying to shoot a little bit later in my high school career and then I got to college and I was like, whoa, I don’t know what I’m doing. And I need to simplify this for a little bit. So early in my college career, I didn’t really shoot. But then obviously as we went along, I started adding it more and more and getting comfortable with it because at this point I feel like shooting in practices and workouts, I got down to to like I can shoot it really well. Just getting used to, you know, shooting in games with everything flying around around you, you got to do all these other things and then get ready to shoot. So it’s just getting used to it in games. But I feel really confident in it and you know, I can’t wait to bring that to the NBA with me. Looking at the NBA game, who’s someone you model your game after? I get the Brook Lopez comparison a lot. Um, but I mean, I I don’t really try to model my game after anyone. I just try to get better because I want to be good at everything. So, yeah, I don’t try to model my game after anyone, but I get that Brook Lopez comment a lot. One thing you have the benefit of, and everyone in your draft class really does, you’ve played with some really highlevel players in your time at Kraton. A couple of guys have gone on to the NBA. What has that experience taught you and maybe help prepare you for coming into the NBA where, let’s face it, rookies sometimes aren’t allocated the same kind of shot volume that they had when they were in the NCAA? I mean, you just get used to playing as a team. I mean, two years ago, we had so so much talent on the team. And, you know, I think that was part of the beauty of the culture atraton is no one cared how the points came. We just cared about getting good shots. So, I think going in the NBA, it’s the same attitude. Like, I don’t care who scores. All I care about is winning. If it’s me taking shots, great. If it’s someone else taking shots, great. So, I just think being part of that culture at Kraton where we didn’t care who was scoring is just going to help me a lot transition. You’ve been asked this a couple of times. He has as well, but uh you played head-to-head against Liam McNeely three times in college. Congrats. You have bragging rights for life, two- one against Yukon. Uh you mentioned how much you’re looking forward to being on the same team as him. What are some things about him that you’re looking forward to watching him put to use against other defensive teams? Yeah, he’s such a good scoreer and has a feel for the game. I remember when we played him in Omaha, he drew so many fouls cuz he was just baiting us into, you know, going for a pump fake or, you know, just creating contact and it was so annoying to guard because he was so good at it and they like couldn’t say anything because they were fouls. So, um, that’s going to be a lot of fun to not have to guard. But, yeah, he’s such such a smart player. It’s going to be fun playing with him off the floor. What are some things you like? What should people uh be looking for to help you out as you adjust to your new home? Um, I mean, I’m a pretty simple guy. Me and my wife like to lay low, watch a movie, go for a walk. Um, I like to go fishing. So, like if I do try to do something on an off day, I’m trying to go fishing. But, yeah, we’re we’re simple people. We just like to take it easy and enjoy life. Charlotte has a lot of opportunities for that for you. One last question before we let you go here. I’d like to ask all the rookies this and then we play it back for him after it happens. You might have thought about this before, but what will your first points be in the NBA? How is it going to go down? I’m hoping it’s a lob dunk because that that would be fun. I did that a lot in college, so I think I can do it. Anyone in particular throwing a lob? Oh man. Either uh LaMelo or it’ be kind of fun to have another one of the rookies throw it. That’d be fun. Fair enough. We’ll look forward to that. Hopefully opening night here in Charlotte just a couple months away. Ryan, thanks so much for joining us here. Congratulations. Welcome to the Hornets. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

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