The person ESPN told viewers was Dalton Knecht was definitely not the real person.
It wasn’t a guard from Tennessee, but Tijan Salone, a player from France who was selected sixth overall by the Charlotte Hornets in Wednesday’s 2024 NBA Draft.
An ESPN broadcast crew attempted to introduce Knecht on air before the Hornets’ pick, but misidentified him as Salone.
The Lakers ended up drafting Knecht with the 17th pick.
Perhaps this has left all critics and fans scratching their heads because the two don’t look the least bit like each other.
The mistake caused uproar on social media platforms, with many users thinking it was “impressive” that they had confused the two and were shocked at how bad it was.
Posted by X user“That’s not the Dalton Knecht I know.”
another added sarcastically.“🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 The draft is off to a perfect start! OMG!!!! Dalton Knecht.”
The Atlanta Hawks selected Zachary Lisacher with the first overall pick before the rest of the draft even began.
Salone used his 6-foot-9 frame to average nine points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game for Cholet Basket Club in France’s LNB Pro A League.
It was the Hornets’ first selection under new owner and head coach Charles Lee.
Knecht had a great final year at Tennessee.
He helped the team achieve one of the best seasons in program history, a 27-9 record, before losing to Purdue in the Elite Eight.
Knecht averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
While the pair would likely look back on the moment as a funny memory in years to come, ESPN immediately felt the pain of their mistake.
