Lakers Rookie Dalton Knecht Reveals He’s Named After ‘Road House’ Character

Los Angeles Lakers rookie Dalton Knecht revealed how he got his name on Tuesday, and it was pretty surprising.

During an interview after his introductory press conference, Knecht confirmed that he was named after Patrick Swayze’s character from Road House, James Dalton. The 17th pick from the 2024 NBA draft then claimed, “It was a super old movie. I watched it, it wasn’t too bad.”

"It was a super old movie. I watched it, it wasn't too bad.”

Dalton Knecht on being named after a character in the movie Road House 🎬 pic.twitter.com/OLn2K1hg70

— NBA (@NBA) July 2, 2024

So many people in their mid-40s just yelled at their screens after watching that.

Road House is a cult classic that was released in 1989. It follows Dalton, a bouncer in New York City who gets recruited to take over security at a club in Jasper, Miss. Swayze was joined in the cast by Kelly Lynch and Sam Elliott. Amazon created a remake this year starring Jake Gyllenhaal in the Dalton role.

Knecht was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 in 2001, so years after the movie hit its peak in popularity.

Regardless of his namesake, Knecht looks like he’ll be a key piece for the Lakers and could be one of the steals of the 2024 draft. A prolific scoring guard, the Tennessee product averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 30.6 minutes per game during the 2023-24 campaign. He also shot 39.7% from three-point range on 6.5 attempts per game, giving Los Angeles a much-needed shooter.

If Knecht can hit shots in support of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, no Lakers fans will care who he’s named after.