What Happened To James Bouknight?
Once an exciting young prospect, the 2021 lottery pick’s career slowly faded away
Photo By: Jared C. Tilton
After two stellar years at the University of Connecticut, it was time for James Bouknight to take his skills to the NBA. The Charlotte Hornets selected Bouknight with the 11th overall pick back in 2021, with the expectation being he could possibly be their point guard of the future. However, the Hornets never got anything more than disappointment as injuries and off court issues plagued Bouknight’s career.
It all started in the 2021 summer league where his inability to adapt to the level of competition was evident. Questions about his dribbling and ability to play in a team-oriented system arose and rightfully so. Once the regular season got under way, Bouknight saw minutes hard to come and voicing his displeasure to their head coach James Borrego.
Photo By: Cloe Poisson
While he wasn’t making headlines in Charlotte, he certainly caught the eyes of the media when he was ejected from a UCONN game, as a spectator, while sitting courtside. This wasn’t the end of the world for the Brooklyn native, but it was a warning sign of things to come. While Bouknight found it difficult to break into the rotation and his minor ejection incident in Storrs, there was hope that year two would be a different story.
It certainly was a different story, but not in a positive way by any means. Heading into the 2022 training camp, Bouknight was found passed out drunk in a car holding a gun. He was charged with a DWI which marked the start of a downward trend. Now with two notable incidents on his track record, Bouknight needed to produce this season and stay out of trouble to show the Hornets organization that they can trust him moving forward.
Photo By: Brett Davis
Throughout the 2022 and 2023 seasons, it was the injury bug that hindered Bouknight from receiving any consistent minutes, let alone consistent performances. He missed the entire duration of the 2022 summer league due to injury as well as suffering another injury in the 2023 training camp. Bouknight missed numerous amounts of games throughout his first three NBA seasons. Wrist surgery, meniscus issues, along with other hand and neck issues all played in role in Bouknight’s health diminishing his career.
Many could argue that Bouknight wasn’t truly given a chance to showcase his talent, however, Bouknight received more than enough opportunities from the Hornets until they decided to part ways with the 23-year-old.
While there were a lot of negatives overshadowing his career, his best season came in year two when he averaged 5.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists in just over 15 minutes per game. However, his shooting numbers were subpar, only scoring on 35.8 percent of his shots and 30.3 percent from behind the arc. Not to mention hitting his free throws at a 67 percent clip.
Photo By: Jacob Kupferman
After three seasons in Charlotte and 79 games played, the Hornets decided to waive Bouknight in February of 2024, only playing in 14 games in his final season. He finished his time with the Hornets averaging 4.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 0.9 assists per game in 11.4 minutes per game. There were some exciting promising moments from Bouknight in his time with Charlotte, but he wasn’t consistent, healthy, and trustworthy enough for the organization to move forward with him.
Bouknight currently remains a free agent and is available to sign with any team. Still only 23 years old, Bouknight still has time to play his way into a contract with a new team, but his health and consistent performances are going to play a large role in deciding if he is worthy of another opportunity.
