Dalton Knecht named after legendary action hero

The Los Angeles Lakers used their first-round draft pick in last week’s NBA Draft to select former Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht. The Lakers drafted Knecht with the No. 17 overall pick and he could play a major role on the team next season.

Before we see him on the field, fans and media got to know him a little during his introductory press conference. Among other things, we learned about the 23-year-old that he was named after Patrick Swayze’s character from Road House, James Dalton.

“You mentioned ‘Road House,’ and that was a super old movie,” Knecht said. “I don’t know when it was made, but I saw it and it wasn’t that bad.”

Knecht was born 12 years after the release of the 1989 film directed by Rowdy Herrington. Swayze played the lead role in the film. For those who don’t know the film, Swayze plays Dalton, who is hired to clean up one of the loudest, meanest, rowdiest bars. Dalton kicks ass in the film and also finds love.

Even though Knecht doesn’t resemble the character he was named after at all, he could bring a killer mentality and instinct to the Lakers, which could benefit his game and impact the team.

We’ll see Knecht for the first time this Saturday in the team’s first Summer League game in San Francisco.

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