The Kai Jones Saga: His Insane Belief in Himself, and How That Might Have Gotten Him Waived By the Charlotte Hornets

October 22nd, 2023

By Alan Lu

The Kai Jones saga is a very interesting and weird one. Basically, he was coming off his second season in the NBA, averaged a little over 3 points per game last year, and in the offseason, he went on social media to proclaim himself to be better than some of the best players in the NBA, which is outrageous considering that he was a fringe rotation player on one of the worst teams in the NBA last year, and has yet to play a thousand minutes in a single NBA season yet. In the aftermath, things did not go so well for him, and he ended up being unceremoniously waived by the Charlotte Hornets just days after requesting a trade.

Kai Jones made a flurry of questionable comments in the offseason, and after requesting a trade, he ended up being waived by the Charlotte Hornets.
(Photo: USA Today Sports USPW/Reuters)

Some of Jones’ claims ranged from bold and eyebrow-raising to downright wacky, in which he claimed he was better than two all-time greats, LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron made the All-Star team and got the Lakers to the playoffs last year. Kai Jones also was critical of his teammates, namely Mark Williams, and Jones’ comments likely rubbed the Hornets the wrong way. The Charlotte Hornets did not have him in training camp and cited “personal reasons,” but it seems like it was an attempt at a disciplinary measure. Later on, Jones publicly requested a trade, but he was later waived. At the very least, one has to think that there would have to be at least one NBA team that would be interested in his services, at least maybe as a player for a second unit or for their G-League team (Washington or Detroit, maybe?).

But either way, it’s weird that Jones was released, and yet they still have Miles Bridges employed, but he’s reportedly a repeat domestic abuser, and the Hornets still let Bridges back at the practice facility. They also drafted Brandon Miller, a very talented and athletic rookie forward that can score, but comes in with some character concerns due to an incident he was involved prior to the draft, as he may have been an accessory to a murder, but that didn’t stop the Hornets from taking Brandon Miller over Scoot Henderson or the Thompson twins. Yet they afforded Bridges and Miller a considerable amount of rope in spite of that. But it seems that while Kai Jones’ actions may have raised some eyebrows in the offseason, it seems that the Hornets have opted to make him the scapegoat, while Bridges still gets to go back to work for them. While Kai Jones probably did stuff on social media that he shouldn’t have done, it seems entirely unfair that the Hornets released Kai Jones but managed to let Bridges back in the building. From how this saga unfolded, it is uncertain and maybe even unlikely that Kai Jones will latch on with an NBA team soon. It’s a shame that Jones ended up getting waived, because he certainly was talented enough to be a regular rotation player of the Charlotte Hornets this year.

One interesting thing may have come from all of this, Kai Jones dropped a rap song on SoundCloud, and he’s got one major supporter of his music, Kevin Durant, a fellow Texas Longhorn, and one of the game’s best players in the league.

Kai Jones may be a very divisive figure in the NBA, and his comments and actions have sparked concerns about his mental health. On the other hand, he does have an insane belief in himself, and just maybe it could be the thing that could allow him to play into a sixth man role in the NBA someday, even if that were to be a year or two from now. Whether if his tremendous belief in himself is foolish or not, one certainly would have to admire that, even if that might have cost him a spot on this year’s Charlotte Hornets’ team. And to me, what this says about the Hornets’ running out of patience with Kai Jones but not Miles Bridges reflects poorly on them as an organization.

Kai Jones is a talented player, and he is a very athletic, young center that can provide energy on both ends of the floor, and his floor spacing potential could make him an intriguing second unit option for an NBA team. And he’s shown flashes of his skills that suggest that maybe he’s been given a raw deal, that he should get more playing time, and that maybe there should be a team that should give him the minutes he covets and craves at the NBA level.

But heading into this season, it was not a sure bet that he would make the Hornets’ rotation, even if he didn’t make those eyebrow-raising comments in the offseason. The Hornets’ top eight is penciled in to be Mark Williams, PJ Washington, Gordon Hayward, LaMelo Ball, and Terry Rozier, with Miles Bridges (who shouldn’t be in the NBA but will because of his talent), Brandon Miller, and Nick Richards, which would give the other players only maybe two spots to try to crack the Hornets’ rotation. And if Steve Clifford decides to go with a short rotation of only eight or nine players, that probably wouldn’t have left much playing time for anyone else.

It can be argued that he was unjustly waived, and compared to the Miles Bridges saga, Kai Jones’ infractions pale in comparison to that of Bridges.. But there is a counter to all of this. Surely, Jones’ comments aimed at his Charlotte Hornets’ teammates, including LaMelo Ball, could’ve been why the Hornets were so willing to let him go. LaMelo Ball is their All-Star guard (2022 NBA All-Star) and franchise player, and having players that are not even in the team’s top eight that think they’re better than their All-Star playmaker and the guy they’re building their team around would threaten their team chemistry. It doesn’t excuse the Hornets for what they did, as they still employ extremely questionable character players on their roster, but Jones’ actions may have given them a reason to waive him, and perhaps a legitimate one at that.

There’s no question that Jones’ comments ruffled feathers, namely people that work for the Charlotte Hornets. Anyways, it seems that the cold hard truth is that, if Jones were an All-Star, or a top 5 pick, the Charlotte Hornets probably wouldn’t have waived him, even if they were to still have found his comments troublesome. But he isn’t an All-Star or a former top 5 pick. He was a backup center that was struggling to get consistent playing time on a bad Charlotte Hornets’ team last year. On Basketball-Reference, Jones played the 14th most minutes (total minutes) on the 2022-23 Charlotte Hornets last season. In a league where there are only 15 standard contracts and 3 two-way contracts, as he was barely scraping to get minutes, that wouldn’t give him much or any leeway to make the comments that he made in the offseason.

So, a combination of things probably happened when he requested a trade. One, there probably wasn’t a huge demand for him, or Charlotte already would’ve found a trade partner for him, and two, because he wasn’t a high priority player on their roster, they felt like they could waive him. So, Kai Jones will be facing an uphill battle to get back in the NBA, but I do think he has the talent to be a rotation player in the league again. He will probably have to humble himself, but it will be interesting if an NBA team decides to sign him, whether if it’s for this season or sometime in the future.