Lakers' Dalton Knecht reveals backstory & origin behind his intriguing name: "It was a super old movie"
To be drafted by the LA Lakers is an achievement of its own for any rookie hoping to make a name for himself in the NBA, which is the case for Dalton Knecht. The former Tennessee forward joined Bronny James in the team's press conference where he shared the origin of his name. Interestingly, it was taken from a movie that his parents watched.
Knecht's comments were shared on X by the NBA's social media handle.
"They brought up 'Road House,' and it was a super old movie," Knecht said. "I don't know when it was made, but I watched it, it wasn't too bad."
"Road House" was released back in 1989 under the direction of Rowdy Herrington and Patrick Swayze as the main star attached to the film. He played the character of "James Dalton."
Lakers rookie talks about having confidence entering the professional league
During an interview with Los Angeles Times' Dan Woike, Dalton Knecht shared about being in a position where he has always been overlooked as a prospect in his career. However, he is now in the NBA, and he shared how confident he is entering the league.
"I feel like I've been underrated my whole entire life," Knecht said. "Ever since I was coming out of high school, so, you know, I've always had that chip on my shoulder. And to this day, I'll always have that chip on my shoulder to go out there and prove people wrong."
That kind of mentality is what has driven him to reach this stage of his life and he acknowledged the importance of keeping that same level of edge moving forward. Making a strong impression in the league is no easy feat to pull off, but the Lakers rookie already has the right mindset for it.
Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht proposes a nickname idea alongside jersey number
During the Lakers' press conference, Dalton Knecht had an interesting proposition when it comes to a possible nickname. Interestingly, it involved a creative way of including his number four jersey alongside it, as per NBA's X post.
"I knew eventually that I probably would have to run into number four," Knecht said. "But three's been my number my whole life. And three, AD's got it, so why not do Knecht four? Why not?"
It's nice of Knecht to respect Anthony Davis' number three jersey despite having the same digit on his back when he used to play at the collegiate level. The nickname is a reference to the classic game "Connect 4," which involved the formation of colored discs in a connected pattern.
At the same time, the nickname can also be a reference to Xbox Kinect, which was a motion-sensing videogame console that was originally released in 2010.