Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht flexes young fan claiming him as GOAT over Michael Jordan

LA Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht has had an interesting season so far. It’s safe to assume that the things he has experienced were on no one’s bingo card, including a young fan, who claimed Knecht to be the greatest of all time over Michael Jordan.

Knecht, who was selected 17th in the 2024 draft, has played meaningful minutes for a contending team. Many analysts claimed at the time of the draft that the Lakers got a steal, and Knecht’s performance for them has proven that so far.

So when a young fan turned up to a game with a sign that called him the GOAT over Jordan, he aptly shared it on his Instagram story on Sunday.

The sign read:

“SORRY MJ, DALTON’s my GOAT!”

While Dalton Knecht is far away from being in the GOAT conversation, he has helped the Lakers with averages of 9.2 points and 2.9 rebounds on 46.0% shooting.

While the numbers might not jump off at first look, it’s important to remember that he plays alongside three high-volume shooters in Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. Before Doncic arrived, it was Anthony Davis.

Going back to the interesting things he experienced as a rookie, he learned that the NBA is a business after all the hardest way possible. He was sent to the Charlotte Hornets as a part of the trade that would have sent Mark Williams to LA. However, the trade fell through after Williams failed the Lakers' physical, and Knecht was back in LA.

Dalton Knecht speaks about the “crazy” trade saga

While it must have been an awkward situation, Dalton Knecht reflected on the trade saga after he rejoined the LA Lakers in mid-February. He said, via Yahoo Sports:

“It was a crazy time. Not too many people have done that, come back [after being traded]. But at the end of the day, I just wanted to hoop. … It felt like a movie. …

"Rob called me up there and told me the news. It was hard. I got drafted here, so LA means a lot. So, hearing that and then I go to Charlotte in the morning with one of my guys and get introduced and start meeting all those people and then fly out to Detroit to what was called my ‘debut game,’ to then, now I’m flying back to LA.”

Knecht also earned the praise of Lakers coach JJ Redick for how he handled the situation:

“His spirit was good. … We're not gonna talk about it anymore. We've talked about it. He's in a good spot. We're good."

The saga is behind Dalton Knecht now, though, and he is focused on helping the team win a title. The Lakers are currently ranked fourth in the West with a 45-29 record. They play the Houston Rockets at home on Monday at 10:30 p.m. EDT.