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The Charlotte Hornets secured their first victory of the 2026-27 NBA season on Wednesday night, defeating the Brooklyn Nets. Before tip-off, Hornets head coach Charles Lee shared his thoughts on the progress of rookies Hannes Steinbach and Christian Anderson Jr., highlighting their growth through summer league and the preseason.
Lee praised the rookies' ability to absorb coaching, saying, "They pick up things really well. When you come in and have that humility to you, where you understand that you're a good player, but you still can learn things." He specifically noted Anderson Jr.'s defensive improvement: "Christian, obviously during summer league, I thought that he was already showing his defensive prowess. As good as an offensive presence as he was in college, I thought that the defense showed in summer league, and now with more and more reps, he's actually finding more and more confidence offensively too." The quotes were provided via Sharif Phillips-Keaton of the Nets Wire.
Anderson Jr. was the only one of the two rookies to see action against Brooklyn, stepping in due to an injury to starting point guard Coby White. Although the Texas Tech product did not score, he contributed two rebounds, two assists, and two steals in 13 minutes, finishing with a positive plus-minus.
Looking ahead, the Hornets will host back-to-back home games on Friday and Saturday.
For more NBA content, check out the BasketBaltes podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@BasketBaltes and https://www.instagram.com/basketbaltes/. This article originally appeared on Rookie Wire: Charles Lee praises Charlotte's rookies for their offseason development.
Originally reported by yahoo.