Ryan KalkbrennerCharlotte Hornets · #11
Ryan Kalkbrenner is a 7-foot-1 rim-protecting center for the Charlotte Hornets, drafted 34th in 2025 out of Creighton. A remarkable four-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year and the 2025 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, he is an elite paint defender and efficient lob-catching finisher with developing three-point range.
Ryan Kalkbrenner — the report card
Read his whole game at a glance, then dive into any skill. Grades from the DNA model + real production.
Where Ryan Kalkbrenner stands
Live ladders from the Balladex models, and what he's chasing. Rankings recompute nightly from real production, accolades, and search demand.
Ryan Kalkbrenner — every number, three levels deep
Headline → metric → the raw history behind it. Real career data; tracking-only metrics labeled.
How the model sees Ryan Kalkbrenner
Projection = per-minute rate × projected minutes. Rates are recency- and health-weighted, aged along a per-stat curve, and adjusted for live usage/role. No black box — every number shows its work.
Ryan Kalkbrenner career stats, season by season
| Season | GP | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 69 | 21.4 | 7.6 | 5.5 | 0.8 | .753 | .000 |
| Career | 69 | 21.4 | 7.6 | 5.5 | 0.8 |
The Lab
Every number, live and interactive. Real career data; models labeled.
Are the Charlotte Hornets built to win?
Team projection rolled up from the roster + last-season baselines — and what it means for his role.
The Ballad of Ryan Kalkbrenner
Birth to now — the making of a legend, narrated and scored.
The beginning
A 7-foot-1 rim-protecting center — elite paint defense and efficient finishing for the Hornets.
Turning pro
Drafted 34th overall, 2025 as a Center.
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A 7-foot-1 rim-protecting center — elite paint defense and efficient finishing for the Hornets.
Chapter
A St. Louis native, Kalkbrenner won four straight Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards at Creighton.
Chapter
In 2025 he won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award.
Off the court
- Height
- 7' 1"
- Weight
- 256 lbs
- College
- Creighton
- Experience
- 1st Season
- Draft
- 34th overall, 2025
- Born
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Age
- 24
- Jersey
- #11
Kalkbrenner is a St. Louis native from a close family — married to a Creighton women's basketball alumna — whose five-year college career made him one of the most decorated defenders in recent memory, sweeping the Big East's top defensive honor every eligible year and adding a FIBA U19 World Cup gold medal.
His on-court identity is rim protection and efficient finishing — a true 7-foot-1 center with great hands and soft touch who blocks shots with foul-avoiding awareness, finishes lobs with power, passes out of the post, and has flashed three-point range (around 32% over his final two college seasons). His NBA ceiling hinges on whether that shot translates; his defensive floor is high.
An elite rim-protecting center — paint defense, efficient finishing, and developing range.
Ryan Kalkbrenner — frequently asked
The questions people ask most about Ryan Kalkbrenner, answered.
