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Los Angeles Times
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Five Finger Death Punch takes a swing at reclaiming their metal hits, with some inspiration from Taylor Swift
It's another dry, sweltering morning in Las Vegas, and the guitarist Zoltan Bathory has just left his Gothic castle. Bearded and dressed in black, with a bundle of dreadlocks piled high on his head, he's now piloting a small boat across a man-made lake filled with tap water, on his way to breakfast at a nearby café. The newly renovated replica castle is a recent project and perk of Bathory's 20-year career as guitarist and founder of the multiplatinum heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. But last year, as the metal act began planning to celebrate those two decades of action, Bathory discovered that their longtime former label, Prospect Park, had quietly sold the masters to the first seven 5FDP albums. The group, which retained 50% ownership in the masters but not 'administrative rights,' was not informed before the sale. 'We were not privy to the deal. It was completely behind curtains. That's the annoying part of this,' says Bathory. 'I wish they had a conversation because we could have done a deal together, or maybe we would have bought it. We didn't even get an option. We found out from somebody else. Well, wait a minute, what's going on?' With that anniversary coming up in 2025, 5FDP adjusted after finding inspiration in the example of pop superstar Taylor Swift, who responded to the sale of her catalog with a hugely successful series of 'Taylor's Version' rerecordings of entire albums. Swift re-created four of her records, each one topping the Billboard Top 200, before she finally bought back the rights to her catalog this year. Five Finger Death Punch decided to follow that lead, and in January began rerecording the band's most popular songs. The first batch of new recordings arrived under the title '20 Years of Five Finger Death Punch — Best of Volume 1,' released Friday, to be followed by 'Best of Volume 2' later this year. 'When this happened, it came up immediately: 'Well, this happened to Taylor and what did she do?'' Bathory says of the plan. 'She battle-tested it. And she's a big artist. 'OK, that's your move? Now this is our move.'' It is just the latest chapter in a sometimes turbulent career for the musicians, as the band rose to become one of the most successful hard rock/metal bands of their generation, boasting 12 billion streams, surpassed only by Metallica and AC/DC. During its first decade, 5FDP released four platinum-selling albums in the U.S., beginning with its second release, 2009's explosive 'War Is the Answer.' The unexpected sale of their masters — to the independent music publisher Spirit Music Group — was perhaps the final round in a frequently contentious relationship with Prospect Park founder Jeff Kwatinetz. In 2016, the label sued Five Finger Death Punch in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging breach of contract over a coming greatest hits package and the recording of a new album. That lawsuit got ugly, including an accusation in its initial filing that the band was 'attempting to cash in before the anticipated downfall of their addicted bandmate,' a blunt reference to singer Ivan L. Moody's period of self-destruction at the time. The band countersued. The cases were settled out of court the following year. A request for comment sent to Kwatinetz through his attorney was not returned by press time, but he told Billboard last month that the band's current management stopped cooperating, so 'I sold my half.' As he settles into the small lakeside café over a glass of organic matcha tea and avocado toast, Bathory expresses little real anger over the suits and the sale, and looks back cheerfully at the band's long relationship with the label. The guitarist says he actually enjoyed their heated discussions, reflecting not only their conflicts of the moment, but a shared history as the band rose from clubs on the Sunset Strip to stadiums around the world. 'With our former label president, this is probably the funniest relationship. In the past, we were suing each other for various [issues],' Bathory says with a smile. 'We get on the phone, and we're talking about a lawsuit, and he's like, 'You guys lost this injunction.' And I'm like, 'Oh, f— you.' 'Oh, f— you!' We had this back and forth, and then it's 'How's the kids?' And then we just talk about albums and music and whatnot for like an hour. 'And then, 'OK, see you in court.' 'F— you,'' he adds with a laugh. 'It's a game of life. And I believe in the way of the samurai. The saddest day in the samurai's life is when your worst opponent dies, because that's the guy who kept you on your toes.' Sessions for the new recordings unfolded quickly from 5FDP's current lineup that also includes baseball bat-wielding singer Moody, longtime bassist Chris Kael, and two newer members, drummer Charlie Engen and lead guitarist Andy James. The musicians recorded their parts separately, re-creating songs some of them had by now performed live nearly 1,000 times around the world. The resulting tracks are not exact replicas of the originals, but are faithful to their spirit while leaving room for the natural evolution that happens through years of touring. The result on 'Best of Volume 1' is a potent representation of the band's history, opening with the snarling riffs of 'Under and Over It.' The first volume includes 13 rerecordings and three live tracks. When played side-by-side with the originals, the new self-produced songs never sound like tired retreads but are powered by some contemporary fire in the band's performances. The first public glimpse in the project was a rerecording of 'I Refuse,' a power ballad from 2018, this time as a duet with Maria Brink (of In This Moment), released as a single in May. Once news of the project, and its inspiration, began to spread, Five Finger Death Punch began to hear from a new constituency: Swifties. 'What's kind of crazy is that I see Taylor Swift's fans on our social media and bulletin board going, 'Yeah!' That's the most bizarre thing,' Bathory says of the new voices cheering the band forward. 'We are so far away from each other in style. But it seems like it hit a chord. I guess people who don't necessarily understand or are privy to the music business and how it works still feel like this is not right.' While the band is also six songs into recording its next album of new material, Bathory says the new best-of recordings are expected to be fully embraced by the band's famously intense following. 'Our fans are pretty hardcore,' Bathory says. 'They're very engaged, and they know exactly why we did this. So I think, just to support the band, they will switch [their allegiance to the newer versions] anyway. But these recordings are going to live next to each other.' Founded in 2005, Five Finger Death Punch was the culmination of the rock star dreams of Bathory that began as teen in Hungary, first as a fan of British punk rock, before turning to metal after discovering Iron Maiden (with early singer Paul Di'Anno). He built his own electric guitar to look like one used by the L.A. heavy metal band W.A.S.P., with a skull-and-crossbones painted onto the surface. Rock music wasn't played on TV or the radio in the then-communist country, so Bathory and his friends traded cassette tapes of any punk and metal they got their hands on. 'Somebody always somehow smuggled in a record, and we would all copy it,' he remembers. 'It created this subculture where we didn't just look at it as music. It was the sound of the rebellion.' Bathory also dressed the part, drawing attention for his Def Leppard T-shirt with the Union Jack flag, studded leather jackets and belts, and long hair. Kids who adopted that look and spoke in the language of Western hard rock actually risked arrest, he says. 'I've been chased around by the cops so many times,' he recalls with a laugh. By his early 20s, Bathory moved to New York City with his guitar, about $1,000 in his pocket, and no English-speaking skills. While living in low-budget squalor, he slowly taught himself English, first by translating a random copy of the Stephen King novella 'Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.' He played with bands that got nowhere, and after six years relocated to Los Angeles, and things started to change. For a year, he played bass in the L.A. hard rock band U.P.O., which enjoyed some chart success, then formed Five Finger Death Punch, with a name inspired by the 1972 kung fu film 'Five Fingers of Death' and Quentin Tarantino's two 'Kill Bill' epics. 'I knew exactly what I wanted. There was a vision,' says Bathory. That vision got clearer when he first saw singer Moody performing with the nu metal band Motograter. It was Bathory's good fortune that Motograter would soon break up. He reached out to Moody in Denver. 'He was special — his performance, his voice. That star quality thing is a real thing,' notes Bathory of the growling, emotional singer. 'You could tell he was a rock star, right? I'm like, OK, that's the guy.' In their first years as a band, the quintet played more than 200 shows annually. 'We played every little stage that exists,' Bathory says. Sitting beside the guitarist now in the café is Jackie Kajzer, also known as radio DJ Full Metal Jackie, who first spotted the band on MySpace. She soon caught an early set at the Whisky a Go Go and was immediately sold on their sound and potential. She was also a junior manager at the Firm, a leading management company at the time representing Korn, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park. Kajzer urged the company to sign the ominously-named Five Finger Death Punch, and after two showcase performances on the Strip, it did. The metal band was soon added to the side stage of the high-profile 2007 Family Values Tour, followed the next year by the traveling Mayhem Festival, leaving a powerful impression among new fans and fellow artists. 'When you find something that makes you feel something, it makes it worth fighting for,' says Kajzer, who has remained part of the band's management team ever since, now at 10th Street Entertainment. 'I had never felt it before. PS: I've never really felt that again, that same early feeling. You believe in it and you want to shake everyone else and make them get it as well.' Five Finger Death Punch's recording career began by uploading a few songs at a time — early versions of 'Bleeding,' 'Salvation,' and 'The Way of The Fist' — to MySpace, then an essential platform for new acts, or what Bathory now remembers with a laugh as 'the center of the universe.' 'It was extremely hard, but in the beginning we knew we had something because there was this instant interaction,' Bathory says of fan response. 'We were all in bands before — many, many bands. We all recognized that, OK, there's something different here. We didn't have to convince people. It just started happening and it was growing really fast.' 'The ones that make it, they're here for decade after decade,' he says of the larger metal scene, which enjoys a seemingly eternal audience. 'The family [of fans] is extremely loyal and they're there forever. Once you're in, you're in.' The band's first album, 2007's 'The Way of the Fist,' was largely recorded in Bathory's apartment near the Sunset Strip. It reached halfway up the Billboard Top 200 album chart and eventually went gold, with 500,000 copies sold. While even greater success follower, there has also been the usual ups and downs in the life of a metal band, with group members coming and going, troubles with substance abuse, and arguments over creative choices. After two decades together, the singer and the guitarist have survived. 'It's still a tornado. It's a band, a bunch of guys, so I don't think it's ever going to change. We built this freaking thing like it was a battleship,' says Bathory with a grin, sitting in the castle beneath an ornate Turkish lamp. 'It's always going to be that we fight and argue, but at the end of the day, we always figure things out. We always climb the next mountain.'
USA Today
24-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Q&A: Thomas Sorber knows there is so much he hasn't even shown before NBA Draft
Georgetown Hoyas big man Thomas Sorber is considered as one of the top players at his position in the 2025 NBA Draft. He is happy to explain why. Sorber, who is just 19 years old, measured with a 7-foot-6 wingspan at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. He averaged 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game during his one-and-done NCAA campaign. While his collegiate career was cut short due to a season-ending injury, the big man was able to show enough during the pre-draft process to elect to stay in the 2025 NBA Draft rather than return to school for another year of college basketball. Sorber thrived in advanced catch-all metrics like Defensive RAPM, per CBB Analytics, where he led all Division I players last season. The big man also ranked 98th percentile in Wins Above Replacement Player per 40 minutes. He is currently projected at No. 19 overall in our latest consensus mock draft. Meanwhile, for more prospect coverage, here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. You can watch Episode 4 of Prospect Park below: What can you share about how you have spent your pre-draft process? Sorber: You know my situation. I've been injured since the end of the season so I've been limited to doing only a couple things. But I've just been in the weight room trying to get my upper body right. Now that I'm in a shoe, I'm allowed to do some leg work a bit. I'm just trying to get my range of motion back in my toe. So that's what it's looking like for me right now. I'm taking the rehab process trying to get my full strength. What do you emphasize when you talk to NBA teams? Sorber: First, on the court, I'm just telling teams that I'm an 'everything' guy. I try to get rebounds, I try to block as many shots as I can, I try to get steals, and start the break. I try to do anything to help the team win. Off the court, I'm a guy everyone wants to be around. If you ask any of my Georgetown teammates, they'll mainly say I'm one of the guys that hangs out with every type of group. I'm a good person to be around. I just try to bring joy every time I step on the court and try to have a smile on my face every time I play. What do you think is your most elite skill and defining NBA trait? Sorber: I think my ability to read the game because it's very rare. I make quick decisions. I play this thing called point-five basketball. So I'm trying to make a quick decision while the ball is in my hands but stay relaxed with it. It's been with me since I was a little kid playing in the parks, playing with friends here and there. But I really learned about point-five basketball once I reached Georgetown because coach Ed Cooley really emphasized that on us. Try to anticipate what you're going to do next, try to keep the defense on their toes, and not let the defense relax. I'd also say rebounding as well. I'm able to track the ball well whenever it comes off the rim or the backboard. Those are my main two strengths coming into this process. What is your favorite thing to do on a basketball court? Sorber: I'd say playing defense, honestly. You never hear a lot of people say that their favorite joy is playing defense. So I think that's one thing that's rare about me because I know that defense wins games. I basically just put my all into the defensive end, trying my best to not let my opponent score or anybody on the other team score. That can also start breaks and get my team quick, easy opponents. What is something you didn't get to show at Georgetown in your shortened season? Sorber: Lately, I've been really working on my form and trying to extend my range a bit more. I'd say shooting. I could have shown a bit more toward the end of the season. I think I would play well on the perimeter. I think I could showcase a lot more of my skills not just shooting but with backdoor cutting, passing, keeping the defense on their toes while they're guarding me. If I had that one-on-one, I'd try to get a bucket on my own. A bunch of my teammates at Georgetown knew I could get a bucket on my own. But you have to translate that over to the NBA. I could have shown a little bit of ball handling, trying to start the break for teams, trying to come off the dribble handoffs, and just reading the game. You could always get better at reading the game, but I just try to excel my way to read the game and also help my team win. That all comes into play as the years go on because as I get older, I start to learn more. I get stronger. How would you rate your competitiveness and where does it come from? Sorber: Definitely a ten. I don't like losing. That's one I can say for sure. It comes from when I was younger, going to the courts, playing five-on-fives with randoms. Where I'm from back in Trenton [New Jersey], it's a lot of people that like to talk smack here and there. So I wouldn't let that get to my mind. The winning team always talks smack and I would hate to be on the other side of that. So I just try to do anything to help my team win so at the end of the day, I can talk smack back. Definitely when I was younger, probably around sixth grade, is when I started to take it down that I could really be somebody someday. Once I got to my new high school, around 10th grade, my sophomore year, that's where I felt like I was ready to take this next step and just stay consistent in the gym and go out to the park and play five-on-five here and there, just so I could keep that mentality and keep it pushing it and keep me going, just reading the game in more and more ways. Who are some of your favorite big men to watch in the NBA? Sorber: I'd say the way Chet Holmren blocks the ball. He blocks it upwards. I've taken a little bit of that down. I'd say the way Nikola Jokić reads the game as well. He's tall and sees over everybody and doesn't let the game rush him. He goes at his own pace. I love Bam Adebayo's athleticism. He goes after everything. He's a hustle dog. I try to take bits and pieces of other bigs and try to add it to my game.
USA Today
23-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Meet Jeremiah Fears, the NBA Draft prospect who wants to 'destroy' opponents
Oklahoma Sooner guard Jeremiah Fears is already one of the top players in his position in the 2025 NBA Draft, and it's obvious that he is only going to keep improving. Fears is the youngest American-born prospect in this cycle behind only projected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Both players reclassified to forego their senior year of high school and instead enroll in college, where they enjoyed tremendous success. During his one-and-done campaign at Oklahoma last season, Fears earned SEC All-Freshman honors. He averaged 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game while helping lead his team to the NCAA tournament. The freshman spoke to For The Win about working alongside his agent (former NBA player Mike Miller), how much he is fueled by his brother, Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr., what he has learned from other Oklahoma stars, like Trae Young and Buddy Hield, and more. He is currently projected at No. 7 overall in our latest consensus mock draft. Meanwhile, for more prospect coverage, here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. You can watch Episode 3 of Prospect Park below: What have you done in the pre-draft process and how have you improved most? Fears: The last few weeks have been nothing but work. It's been very exciting being able to learn from Mike Miller himself. He's taking me underneath his wing and I'm able to learn from him and add it to my game. That's been so helpful for me. I would say just probably my IQ and my shooting ability. Mike's done a great job every single day being able to work with me and teach me the ins and outs and help me prepare for what's about to come. The relationships have gone a long way for me. I really like the staff I'm working with and everybody that's been along this journey have done a great job welcoming me with open arms and being by my side. Whenever I've needed help, they've been there. What is the most important thing that NBA teams should know about you? Fears: The most important thing they should know about me is I'm somebody everybody wants to be around, that is going to bring energy, be positive, no matter whether the situation is good or bad. I'm somebody who knows how to weather the storm, and I'm somebody you can lean on and count on off the court. On the court, I want NBA teams and people to know that Jeremiah Fears is a dog, and he's coming with it every single time he steps on the court. On the defensive end, I'm trying to shut you down and stop you from having a good night. Offensively, I'm going to come at you as well. So that's something that my opponent is going to know every time I step on the court. My opponent is going to know Jeremiah Fears is coming to destroy me. You guys are going to be getting a dog. Whoever picks me on draft night, you're going to be getting a dog, somebody that's going to come in and work hard and bring the star power and give it his all everytime that he steps on the court. How does your age impact your overall developmental trajectory? Fears: It's very helpful, obviously, being young. It's a lot to learn. I still have a lot of years left to play the game. I'm somebody that's willing to learn from the older guys, the vets. The more you pick up, the better player you will be and the better person you will become. I'm just continuing to come into every situation with an open mind and try my best to show the vets I'm willing to learn and I'm ready to work. I've picked up on the way people around the NBA carry themselves like professionals, you want to be somebody people want to be around. They are always positive, supportive, and pay attention to the details. The details go a long way for me, too. Pay attention to the details of how teams carry themselves and how other players carry themselves. What are the ways that your family has helped you become the player you are today? Fears: I think it's helped a lot. Basketball is in our DNA. So just being able to learn from my big brother and my father has been very helpful for me. They taught me basically everything I know. They're always supporting. They're probably my biggest critics as well, so knowing I can lean on them for any and everything, I know they're going to tell me the good and the bad whether or not I want to hear it. So I'm very thankful for them, and I know in the future, they want me to be the best I can be. I love the workouts with my brother. I think our workouts are very intense. Everything we do, we try to compete. We push each other. So it might be a shooting competition or something like just playing one-on-one, we'll say: Maybe you should have made this move. Maybe you should have taken that shot when you had the time. So we're able to help each other while also competing and going hard. What are some of the ways that you improved while at Oklahoma? Fears: I will definitely give a lot of credit to the coaching staff. They did a great job bringing in somebody so young, 17 when he first stepped foot on campus. They did a great job helping me, putting me in the right position. Every single coach there wanted the best for me and did everything they could to put me in the situation I'm in today. I want to give all the credit to them and our player development coach Josh Oppenheinmer did a great job every single day to help me prepare and be ready for the big moments and the big stage. I was able to talk to Buddy Hield and Trae Young. They actually came back for open gyms with us a couple times so that was good for not only me but my teammates as well. We got to play against them and see what it was like. I talked to them about what it was like and what the process is like. They mainly told us to enjoy everything and it's going to be quick. You have to come back and prove yourself all over again. So just go in thee with an open mind and it's going to help me in the long run. They basically told me to keep doing what you're doing. Keep listening. They can't wait to see me at the next stage and to play against me in the NBA. I've been trying to enjoy every single moment. I know sometimes it might be a lot, especially for a young kid. But it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it's something you dream about. So to be in the situation is a blessing and so I try to enjoy every thing that comes my way. What is the most underrated part of your game as of right now? Fears: It's my on-ball defense, for sure. They've seen a little bit of it in college, but I'm going to show them some more once I get to the pros. I would also say my rebounding. I do a really good job of rebounding for a point guard and I'm going to continue to do that. Was this all something you were able to picture for yourself? Fears: Yes. I wrote it down when I was in eighth grade or the start of freshman year. I had it in the back of my head. Wherever I'm at in life on the court or off the court, I try to write down a goal and it just kind of helps me know what I'm working toward. I want to be one of the best point guards in the NBA. I want to win the MVP of the NBA. I want to be one of the best point guards to play the game. I trust my work. I put in a lot of work. So I just believed in myself and trusted my work. I always bet on myself and believe in the work I put in. You don't go into the gym and put in multiple hours and then go on the court and freeze up when the big moment comes.
USA Today
19-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Q&A: Asa Newell pitches his 'contagious' energy as NBA draft prospect
Q&A: Asa Newell pitches his 'contagious' energy as NBA draft prospect Georgia Bulldogs freshman forward Asa Newell had a strong one-and-done campaign while in college. Now, he's ready to show what he can do as a pro. Newell helped Team USA win a gold medal during the FIBA U-17 Basketball World Cup in 2022. He was a consensus five-star recruit coming out of high school and one of the most highly-touted players aside from Anthony Edwards ever to commit to Georgia. Alongside other standouts like Cooper Flagg and Derik Queen, he helped lead his high school basketball team at Montverde Academy to an undefeated season and won the Chipotle Nationals championship. Last season, Newell earned SEC All-Freshman honors after averaging 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He is currently projected at No. 21 overall in our latest consensus mock draft. Meanwhile, for more prospect coverage, here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. You can watch Episode 2 of Prospect Park below: How have you spent the pre-draft process and where are you improving the most? Newell: I've just been in the gym every single day taking care of my body. What it means to be a pro: You have to take every single day seriously, not take a day for granted. That's something I've been learning in this process. I think the main factor is my 3-point shot making ability. It's a lot of reps. I've changed my shooting motion a little bit. Instead of having a little bit of waste of movement, bringing the ball down on the catch and bringing it back up and catching the ball and going straight up with it has been something that I've found very consistent. Also, my ball handling has improved as well. What is your confidence in your jump shot and how will it help you in the NBA? Newell: I've always been extremely confident in my jump shot from high school to college and now into the NBA. It's going to have a huge impact. You have to have a 3-point shot to survive in the NBA. The NBA has become extremely positionless. It's a lot of catch and shoot 3's and attacking mismatches and driving closeouts. So a 3-point shot is something everybody needs. How are you able to impact winning the most while you are on the court? Newell: I'm a match waiting for some gasoline and causing a whole fire. I play with a lot of energy. That is very contagious. When you have someone who plays really hard with motor and doesn't really take plays off, you see all the top teams doing that. Oklahoma City is doing that. They play with camaraderie and a brotherhood. They take advantage on defense. So I'm just coming with that mindset into the league. I don't know what it's going to look like until I get there, and that's the beauty of the game. That's the beauty of life and something I'm super excited for. How are you able to get to the basket and score at such an efficient rate? Newell: I think it's just my mindset, being able to have smaller guys or bigger guys. In a basketball game, there are a bunch of mini games. When you have someone bigger on you, I can use my speed and quickness and my touch. If there is someone smaller on me, I can take my time and punish a smaller defender. It's really just a mindset and a lot of reps that I've been doing in the gym and countless hours that's just being paid off and being shown on the court. What should NBA teams know about you and what you bring to a locker room? Newell: Character and morale go a long way, especially in an NBA locker room. I like having a team of guys, a brotherhood, that you can bring into an NBA locker room. It's important to give resilience and work ethic and you're a pro on and off the court. When you get in the NBA, you're going to have a lot of free time. What you're doing in that free time is going to determine the type of player that you're going to be. I like to lead by example, so coming to Georgia, I wanted to find my voice a little bit. Silas Demary was our leader. He is a strong presence. He's been in college and experience the coaching staff that Mike White had at Georgia. Silas was always holding me accountable in practice. Overall, at Georgia, it was just being a guy who can hold people accountable and raise the intensity in every single practice. How did soccer help you and would you advise multi-sport athleticism? Newell: It started across the gym with my dad with that footwork in soccer. I played soccer growing up and swimming. I've done a lot of coordinated sports and have the ability to move my feet and it's how I was raised and grew up from different sports. But 100 percent. Definitely do soccer because it definitely helps with your footwork. Just staying in the gym and doing a lot of drills. When I used to live in Destin, Florida my dad would take me on the sand on the beach. I had the right coordination. It's the highest factor you need to have agility. In sixth grade, I decided to cut everything off and focus on basketball when I moved to Destin when I fell out of love with the game for soccer and swimming. I just love watching basketball so I decided to take it seriously, and now here we are. Where does your high school squad rank among the best, and what did you learn there? Newell: I'm always going to bet on myself, and Montverde is somewhere that I think is the best high school team. The special thing about is we always made sacrifices to go to Montverde. We could have went anywhere and averaged 25 points at a public high school. But we wanted to do something. Guys like Curtis Givens and Rob Wright and Liam McNeeley and Derek Queen and Cooper Flagg: We just have a special bond and brotherhood that nobody will be able to break. To have a coach like Coach [Kevin] Boyle pushing us through the hard days and carrying us throughout thick and thin is something that I'll never take for granted. Iron sharpens iron. So playing against the top guys in the country definitely made me better. I got to watch people work and their work ethic and how they handle adversity and bounce ideas off one another. That is something we always used to do. What did you learn from representing Team USA on the FIBA circuit? Newell: It started from the tryouts. You have to take care of yourself. You have to sleep in the dorms and sleep in a new bed and have a meal plan. You're being evaluated from day one. So you have to have the same mindset. It reminds me of when I started doing my NBA workouts. You have to go in and kill or be killed. You're not there to make friends. So go in there and have the utmost confidence. That's what these teams are looking for. What was your favorite memory of playing basketball over the past few years? Newell: I think it was March Madness for Georgia. Being able to help lead a team back to March Madness and being able to share a court with my brother is something that is just super special and there are a couple pictures I will hang up on the wall and remember forever. Being able to play with my brother is something I love doing. It started at Choctawhatchee High School and now at the collegiate level, I'll never forget it.
USA Today
17-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Meet NBA draft prospect Kon Knueppel, the other Duke star you're not talking enough about
Meet NBA draft prospect Kon Knueppel, the other Duke star you're not talking enough about Duke Blue Devils freshman Kon Knueppel is one of the most impressive prospects in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he is more than ready to explain exactly why. During his one-and-done campaign at Duke, nearly everything that Knueppel did on the court positively impacted the team. He averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 40.6 percent on his 3-pointers. After a suggestion from his mom, he also managed to shoot a remarkable 91.4 percent on his free-throw attempts. While most evaluators were discussing his roommate and teammate Cooper Flagg — the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft — it was Knueppel who won ACC tournament MVP before Duke eventually made the Final Four. By the end of the season, Knueppel led all NCAA Division I men's basketball players in raw plus-minus, per CBB Analytics. That effectively means that Duke outscored its opponents by more points (625) when Knueppel was on the court than any other player was able to accomplish. Knueppel held his pre-draft process in Milwaukee, where he worked out twice a day on the court and once in the weight room. He spoke to For The Win about what he is working on this offseason to prepare for his transition to the NBA. He is currently projected at No. 6 overall in our latest consensus mock draft. Meanwhile, for more prospect coverage, here is our latest NBA mock draft at For The Win. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. You can watch Episode 1 of Prospect Park below: What did you tell teams during the 2025 NBA Draft Combine? Knueppel: The main thing is that I'm a guy who really loves basketball. At the end of the day, that's your profession. You're going to have guys in the building and you're going to want guys who are going to be there. Hopefully, they saw a guy who really loves basketball and wants to get better and keep doing it as long as he can. You want to talk about how much you love the process of getting better. That's something I've always enjoyed. I love that feeling of being here and getting better. I emphasize that I love the competition and like to compete. That can be at anything but basketball is my sport of choice. I demonstrate that competitive edge and that desire to get better. What goes into your identity as a winning basketball player? Knueppel: My dad was always good at emphasizing that it's not always about scoring. That's not always the most important thing. I think people tend to think that way growing up. That does not always translate to winning the most. But I try to focus on all the little things. I'm going to make it as hard on the guy that's got the ball that I'm guarding. I'm going to make it super hard on him. I'm going to box out. I'm going to rebound. I'm going to get a loose ball. Those things add up. It all goes into having a good plus-minus or making winning plays on the court. What are some things people do not realize about your game right away? Knueppel: I think it's probably defense. You're going to get beat. People are going to make moves on you. They're going to get around. But I think sometimes what sets me apart is I pursue the play. Even if the guy beats me a little bit, I'm trying to get back in front. I'm trying to contest his shot. I'm trying to make his shots as hard as I possibly can for the other guy. Even if I'm not the quickest, I know how to use angles and I'm trying to make it the toughest shot possible for the guy I'm guarding. I think that's definitely something I can carry over here. We also didn't shoot a ton of non-rim 2-pointers. You don't want to live on a steady diet of those. But I think I have a pretty good in-between game. That's something I worked really hard on both growing up and this offseason. So I'd like to utilize some more of my midrange shots because those will open up in the postseason if you can hit those. Some of those creative finishes in the lane, too. How are you able to translate film study into your play on the court? Knueppel: Our coaches at Duke were very, very good with us. We watched game tape as a team but also individually. [Assistant coach] Emanuel Dildy would get on me a ton about my positioning on defense. I have a knack for knowing when I'm making a mistake, which helps. Sometimes, it hurts me because I get too caught up in trying to not make mistakes. But it helps me know where to be and be in the right spots. I think a lot of that comes from watching film. What change did you implement to become a better free-throw shooter? Knueppel: It's funny. I used to do three dribbles, and I'd shoot from my hip. Most people shoot from their hip on a free throw. [My mom] would always set it up higher and then shoot. There is just less room for error. If you come from your hip, you can go the wrong way. If you set it where I set it now, all you do is shoot it. So you're not missing right or left. You're only going short or long. It took my uncle to tell me to do that for me to listen. I didn't listen to my mom, and I should have just listened to her right away. What can you share with me about your recruitment process at Duke? Knueppel: The grandfather of one of my high school teammates is good friends with ... Jon Scheyer's dad. He texted Scheyer's dad saying that I'm good enough to play at Duke. I'm sure Scheyer was like, 'Sure, Dad. Whatever.' But then he saw me play a couple times. He saw me at the NBA camp. What stands out more to coaches more than skill and all that stuff is the winning plays you make. That's something I try to tell a bunch of players — my brothers included. There are a bunch of guys who can score. It's about guys who can make the right plays, know how to pass on time to guys, know how to rebound and get the ball sometimes. That's what it comes down to. So then Scheyer thought I was a good fit, and I'm glad he did. What is something people do not know about Cooper Flagg you can tell us? Knueppel: He doesn't turn it off. I think that's one of the best compliments I can give. I know people see it in the games. He plays every play. Guys of his caliber don't usually play every play like he does. But he does it in practice, too. I remember the first time we played pickup together in the summer, I was on his team. We won a bunch of games in a row. Then he switched teams and they won a bunch of games. It's rare for guys that can do that. So it was cool to be around. Off the court, he's a great guy. You wouldn't know he's a good basketball player. He doesn't carry himself in that way like he's all that. He's just a humble dude who loves basketball and wants to get better. What got you into reading Bill Simmons at such a young age? Knueppel: My mom's brother Jeff got me The Book of Basketball for Christmas one year. I was like, 'This thing is a thousand pages. It's ridiculous.' I just fell in love. I always loved the history of basketball. But the way he would compare it to pop culture and all that: From then on, me and my dad would always read his columns. We were big fans. We loved listening. My dad loves The Rewatchables podcast. So the movies and sports were all wrapped up in that book. It's one of my favorites. I've read it a lot of times.
