The origins and true meaning behind Luke Kornet the comedian

Luke Kornet won Homecoming King in high school.

Shocker.

The basketball star destined to play Division I hoops was well-liked. Who would have guessed? But that’s not the complete tale of the tape.

Kornet’s growth spurt from 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-10 helped him control the hardwood, but his popularity stemmed from his Troy Bolton roots.

“There was a modern adaptation of Robin Hood,” said Daniel Fife, Kornet’s friend and teammate throughout middle and high school. “He played a character that had, I think, one, maybe two lines in it. There were some musical elements to it. Some dances and such.”

A real-life High School Musical character, Kornet’s innate ability to relate to everybody made him a star.

“He had such a draw to play the high school stereotype,” Fife said. “The jocks, of course. He was good at basketball and had that charisma about him in the locker room [and] on the court, where he was liked there. But also with the fine arts types.”

Everybody loved Luke. And although Kornet didn’t grapple with the theater vs. hoops decision as much as Bolton, his unique individuality persisted.

It’s always been more than just charm with Kornet. Anybody can throw on a smile and whip up a quick-witted tagline. Anybody can ask, ‘How are you doing?’ That wasn’t Kornet’s schtick. People liked him because he was unconditionally unafraid to be authentic.

Almost too unafraid.

“There was a time where, I think it was sophomore English class, where there would be a verbal roll call every day,” Fife recalled. “And his response to the teacher every time back would be, 'Super psyched and ready to learn.' That was his phrase. And she would die laughing, of course. 

“All of us, especially his friends, would roll our eyes at it. But he knew that the teacher enjoyed it, and that gave her some sort of joy throughout the day. Just stupid stuff like that, he [would do]. And [it was] a bit that he kept going on for that entire year. He was not phased whenever I would roll my eyes or give him crap. It didn't matter to him. He was still going to continue on with the bit.”

Some people have a small part of their brain that forces them to overthink. To balk at the idea of cracking a joke or grabbing a group’s attention. That doesn’t exist for Kornet.

From Liberty Christian to Vanderbilt to New York to Chicago to Boston and everywhere in between, the seven-footer has been unapologetically himself.

A father, a basketball player, and a comedian all the same.

How Celtics center Luke Kornet became the NBA's best comedian (and the real reason he does it)

The origins of Kornet as a comedian stem from his early years growing up. Anyone who watches Boston Celtics basketball knows the type of humor he employs. Whether it’s an awkward dance or a dorky one-liner, the big man never fails to let his personality shine through.

“There was a lot of time spent on Twitter and YouTube, watching SNL and some of the comedies of the 2000s,” Fife said. “Just kind of picking up a lot of referential humor that way, while also [using] some quick-witted tropes and idiosyncrasies from different actors and comedians.”

Kornet’s dog, Copper, was also a pillar of his comedic foundation.

“When he would walk his dog back in high school, he would often turn on, I think it was Dane Cook's Pandora radio station,” said Fife. “And so, [he] picked up a lot of comedic timing and things of that nature from those walks with his dog, Copper.”

But again, Kornet’s early comedic studies were not enrolled for the purpose of becoming famous. He just enjoyed what he was listening to.

The funnies followed him all the way to Nashville, Tennessee, where he traded Liberty Christian School for Vanderbilt University.

“None of that's to go viral or to be a meme,” said Riley LaChance, Kornet’s college teammate. “That's just what he thinks is funny in the moment, and that's what he does. I recognized that from my first visit to Vanderbilt. He was quoting The Other Guys and Happy Gilmore and stuff like that. That's kind of just who he is.”

Those movies are the perfect backdrop for Kornet’s style of humor.

“When I think of Luke, I think of The Other Guys or Dumb and Dumber. That type of stuff,” said LaChance. “Or classic Adam Sandler movies where he probably knows every word.”

Being the new kid on campus didn’t phase Kornet. Obviously, when you’re 7-foot-1, it’s easy to have some confidence in your back pocket, but the Texan was always that way.

Kornet wasn’t self-assured because of his height, talent, or status as a Division I hooper. It’s not even a matter of confidence. That’s the wrong word to describe him. He simply lives in his own world.

“He's just not embarrassed of anything,” said Jeff Roberson, another one of Kornet’s teammates at Vanderbilt. “He's just gonna be goofy. [He] can have fun with any situation. And if everybody's laughing at him, he doesn't mind it. He just has always been that guy with that sense of humor that's a little like—He's just unbothered. He's not embarrassed by anything.”

Once he became a Commodore, Kornet found a buddy to bounce off of: Damian Jones. The pair played together for three years at Vanderbilt before Jones entered the 2016 NBA Draft.

Physically, the two big men stood above the crowds. Mentally, they made sure to let others know it.

“I was on my visit to Vanderbilt,” Roberson said. “It was him and Damian Jones at the time. They were always together. They were freshmen at the time. Both bigs. They roomed together and everything.”

“There were times when you couldn't find one of them without the other one,” said LaChance.

They were two peas in a pod.

“Coming in, we were both freshmen. We were roommates, and we were both in the School of Engineering, so we took similar classes,” Jones recalled. “We did a lot of stuff together.”

Jones was the Chad to Kornet’s Troy. The Scottie Pippen to his Michael Jordan. The Kevin Spade to his Sandler.

And the Yin to his Yang.

Literally.

“There's a picture out there somewhere. I think they dressed up,” LaChance said. “One of them was wearing all black clothes and shoes, and the other was wearing all white clothes and shoes, and [they] walked around campus like that. It was pretty funny looking.”

“If you can imagine two seven-footers, I remember one time they were Yin and Yang or whatever,” Roberson said. “And I think Damian wore all white, Luke wore all black, and they were just walking together all day.”

For that one day, the Vanderbilt University was stupefied.

“First off, y'all were the biggest people on campus, so why are you doing this? Just like, whose idea was this? Honestly,” Roberson said with a chuckle. “And I'm pretty sure it came from Luke.”

That’s just how Kornet’s brain works. If he thinks of something funny, he’ll execute it. And at Vandy, Jones was right there with him.

“I remember we were Yin and Yang because, obviously, I'm Black, so I wore all white. And then Luke wore all black,” Jones recalled. “We were just messing around.”

Kornet and Jones were the best of friends. Two college kids who enjoyed a practical joke. But they were also elite basketball players. Jones averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 rebounds in his three years at Vandy, while Kornet put up 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds in four seasons.

Both eventually made it to the NBA, and both are champions, but while they were in college, Kornet jokingly refused to believe in his own professional future.

“In college, Damian Jones was projected [to be a] first-rounder for a lot of our first couple of years there,” Roberson said. “And Luke just had this playfulness where he'd be like, 'Oh yeah, they're coming to see Dame,' and just completely deflect that he was ever [being scouted].”

It was a constant bit, and Kornet was committed.

“He would act like he wasn't even good, if you heard him talk about himself,” Roberson said. “But it's like, you're seven-foot, you can shoot threes, you can block shots, you can literally do everything. I'm pretty sure they're also looking at you, too. But if you just listen to him talk about it, it's like he just started playing basketball the day before.”

With Jones by his side, nobody in Nashville was safe from their fun and games. The antics even extended off the grounds of Vanderbilt and into a local dining establishment.

“There was a Chili's right across the street from where we lived on campus,” LaChance said. “It was me, Luke, Damian, and another one of our teammates, Nolan Cressler. And we went to eat after a long day of class and workouts and everything. And it was like the worst experience ever.”

The restaurant was packed. The servers were overwhelmed. The food took forever. The staff even spilled Jones’ food all over him.

As LaChance sat there, he assumed the upperclassmen would fix everything. “This was my first week on campus, so I'm thinking, 'Oh, Luke and Damian will figure it out. I'm sure they'll pull the, 'Hey, we're Vandy basketball players card or whatever it is.' But we just kind of sat there for two hours and laughed about it.”

Nobody wanted to cause a scene. Kornet and Jones just wanted to blend in. Rather than make a fuss, they joked about the situation. But then, Kornet took things a step further.

They fed the freshman to the wolves.

“He was just like, 'Well, why don't you go say something? I'm not gonna say anything,'” LaChance remembered. “[He was] trying to make me be embarrassed as a freshman. And I think I said, 'I don't mean to complain, but...,' and then Luke, in the background, is [sarcastically] like, 'First thing he does is start complaining.'”

It was easy pickings for Kornet, and LaChance remembers the incident to this day. Although, it wasn’t enough to keep them away from the home of the Baby Back Ribs. “That was a staple for us in college,” said LaChance. “It was literally 20 steps from the door of the apartment that some of us lived in.”

After four years in the black and gold, Kornet went undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft but landed with the New York Knicks. He wasn’t with the big club, though. He spent most of his first year with the Westchester Knicks in the G League.

The big man played 36 games with Westchester during the 2017-18 season, but his personality remained steadfast.

“He was always himself, which is something that's good because the whole world is always telling people to be themselves, and rarely are people that,” said Nigel Hayes, Kornet’s teammate in Westchester. “And then when people are themselves, you do stories about them, like you're doing now. So, it's good that that he's himself.”

Even as Kornet was trying to make it, fighting for his career, he kept up the same attitude. He and Hayes were both stuck in the G League, yet they managed to form a bond because of their respective positive personalities.

And at the center of said bond were two summer-loving brothers.

“We loved Phineas and Ferb,” Hayes said with huge a smile. 

But their passion dug deeper than that. They didn’t just love the show. They loved one particular storyline. And it’s the most Kornet-esque joke possible.

"Our funniest thing was Dr. Doofenshmirtz never being able to recognize Perry unless he had his hat on," said Hayes.

“We'd see something be like, ‘A platypus? Perry the Platypus?! And it was just hilarious to us.”

Unfortunately, with everything going on in Kornet’s life, the plot was lost.

“So, I texted [the Twitter meme] to Luke, and I said, 'Our entire friendship is riding on this right now.' And he got it wrong. And I was like, 'Man, I'm so disappointed. He's like, 'You know.' He was like, 'I'm a father of two now, so all my TV shows consist of like Cocomelon and Paw Patrol. So, I said, 'Look, you have an excuse. You have an excuse.’ This was a long time ago.”

Kornet’s time in Westchester was followed by two years in New York, but he didn’t re-up with the Knicks after three seasons. Instead, his journey took him to Chicago, which presented its own challenges.

Being 7-foot-2 isn’t easy, especially in the NBA, where your body is tested on a daily basis.

“I got to see a pretty down part of his early career,” said Chandler Hutchinson, Kornet’s teammate in Chicago. “Seeing how his body was kind of offering him some challenges. I mean, the dude would come in two hours before practice and be stretching every possible part of his body, just trying to get ready to play. And he never really got an opportunity with the Bulls. But that was something, for me, that I was able to kind of absorb.”

Yet, just like at every other stop in his career, Kornet refused to be anything but joyful.

“He still just kept coming in, putting in the work, and when you mentioned his sense of humor, it really is just him being himself,” said Hutchinson.

Though it took some guys a little extra time to enjoy his punchlines.

“He just would pepper things that would probably fly over a lot of people's heads for the most part,” said Ryan Arcidiacano, Kornet’s Bulls teammate. “And then people would probably understand it in a minute or two or have to be explained what it was. Then [they would] be like, 'Oh my god, Luke. Like, shut up, bro. Like, whatever.'”

The Bulls didn’t win much when Kornet was in town. During his tenure in Chicago, Kornet went 17-32. And he was barely in the rotation. He played 15.5 minutes per game in his first season and 7.1 in his second (prior to getting traded).

Kornet mostly played with the other non-rotation guys in secondary runs at practice. But his teammates saw him as much more than an end-of-the-bench player.

“It was always funny because I always thought Luke was good enough to be a starter,” said Hutchinson. “I'm not even kidding. I'm not even just saying that, either. He could shoot the absolute s*** out of the ball. And, I mean, he's like, what, 7-foot-1? Like a legitimate seven-footer and rim-protector.

“When we played together, we would just run pick-and-roll, whether it be lob [or] pick-and-pop. And he's so smart. His IQ, his basketball IQ, is insane. So, we were able to figure out each other's spots on the floor. And this is funny because this is all during practice. We didn't spend a lot of time on the court together.”

Hutchinson went as far as comparing Kornet to one of his current Celtics teammates.

“He was kind of like my version, like the Chicago Bulls version of [Kristaps] Porzingis. For real,” Hutchinson said.

But that’s how most of Kornet’s early career went. Opportunities were slim. Body aches and pains came and went. He played well but just couldn’t seem to find a permanent residence in the NBA.

“I always told Luke, 'There's no way you should be here,'” Hayes said of their time in Westchester. “We're all working to be there. I'm like, 'You're 7-foot-2, you can shoot, and you're an elite rim protector. There's no way you can't be on an NBA team.' I told him this the entire year.”

After a year and a half in Chicago, Kornet finally got a taste of home.

At the 2021 deadline, the Bulls traded Kornet to the Celtics in a three-team deal. Boston sent back Daniel Theis and Javonte Green. However, they didn’t re-sign Kornet that summer.

But he found his way back.

The Celtics picked him up the following year after a couple of 10-day contracts with the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. But this time around, he wasn’t with Boston. He was in Maine.

From there, his career changed forever.

“I think his year in Maine, in particular, was one where he really espoused a lot of things to the team but then internalized them himself,” said Fife. “Of like, 'Hey guys, if we're going to be miserable here while we're obviously all trying to make it to the big leagues and stuff, we're going to be miserable anywhere.'

“So, I think that reset was such an instrumental thing for him, especially on the court. It just really freed him up. While he has the perspective that, of course, this is his job, and he really is passionate about basketball, at the end of the day, it's a game. And it's a game that you're getting to play with your peers and friends. I think that recentering really brought that personality out of him.”

Since then, Kornet has become a staple of Celtics basketball.

Every time a fan logs into Twitter, Kornet is cracking a joke, celebrating on the bench, or doing a dance in the middle of a game. His unabashed love for quips and antics finally got its chance to shine.

The result is one of the biggest fan-favorites in the NBA.

This past season alone carried a ton of iconic Kornet moments, one of which involved him violently dabbing on the court.

After a put-back dunk against his former team, Kornet sprinted down the court, dabbing with both arms. And apparently, it’s not the first time he’s expressed his love for the dab.

“He would always do that when we were together in Westchester,” Hayes said. “Just out of the blue, nowhere, just start dabbing. And we'd be like, 'What are you doing, man?'”

“He loved his dabs. I mean, honestly.”

Kornet even broke out D’Angelo Russell’s ‘ice in my veins’ celebration after sinking two free throws against the Indiana Pacers. Boston had been on a slump from the line, but once he made a pair, he let everybody know.

“When it's time to be serious, he'll be serious, but he'll crack a joke here and there, for sure,” Jones said. “So, when I saw that he did that, when everybody was missing the free throws, and he had the ice in his veins, I was like, 'Yeah, that's very on-brand for Luke.'”

But perhaps the most supreme Kornet bit is one he created all by his lonesome: The Kornet Kontest.

While under the basket, Kornet jumps straight in the air with his hands up, attmempting to block a three-point shooter’s line of vision.

“It is indicative of who he is as a person,” said Fife. “Esthetically, it's one of the dumbest things you've seen on a basketball court. However, he knows the advantage he has with his height.”

The trend is most commonly associated with Kornet’s time in Celtics green, but it actually originated earlier in his career. It’s just that nobody was around to see it.

“I don't even know if the coaches were even around, but I know that I remember seeing it,” Arcidiacano said of Kornet breaking out the Kontest while in Chicago.

The process of ingraining himself in Boston folklore has been a hilarious journey for Kornet but not one he personally tracks. The big man doesn’t have social media. He’s too focused on his family and basketball for Twitter, Instagram, and other apps.

But just because he doesn’t always pick up on the fads with his own two eyes doesn’t mean there aren’t people out there informing him.

“If there was a Celtics reference of him on Twitter, on Reddit, or whatever, us friends were, in some form or fashion, bringing it to him,” said Fife. “And for the most part, he was usually aware of those sorts of things.”

Last year, before Twitter made likes private, Brad Stevens’ only like on Twitter was a Kornet highlight. 

That one got to his head.

“It was kind of faux arrogance, like, 'Yeah, of course it is,'” Fife said with a smile. “That kind of thing. But obviously, he was not taking it seriously, but he does think it's funny that that was the case.”

The happy-go-lucky version of Kornet has always existed. From his days in high school to his seasons at Vanderbilt, it was continually a part of him. And while it occasionally popped up during his early years in the league, it wasn’t quite as present.

Until he got to Boston. A place he always wanted to be.

“I was throwing out different franchises and teams, and [asking] what he would think about going to different cities or whatnot, and the one that he held to, and not that this was the craziest thing to say back in the day, but he loved Brad [Stevens],” said Fife. “He wanted to play for him so bad. 

“Even throughout his early time in the NBA, he'd always kind of be like, 'Man, it would be so cool to play for the Celtics and play for Brad.'”

Kornet wanted to play under Stevens for years, and when he finally got his opportunity, he formed a relationship that altered the trajectory of his basketball journey.

He even got the chance to interview Stevens on the View From the Rafters podcast. “To not only obviously see that come to fruition with Brad in his front office role, but to be able to play under him, and then to have that rapport with him where he's just able to make the most random, off-color [jokes], and even kind of give him grief, like, 'Why is it so hard for you to hold on to a job?' and have those little tropes here and there, it gave us so much joy as friend group,” said Fife.

To Kornet, humor is far more than just a few laughs. His jokes are great, and the bits he pulls off put smiles on thousands of faces, but there’s a more profound importance to the way he carries himself.

An 82-game season is long. Players are away from their families for days. Sometimes weeks. And while the Celtics are a close-knit group, nothing is ever perfect.

On the surface, Kornet’s antics may look like just that. Antics. But in reality, they are his way of uplifting those around him.

“Having fun throughout the day and realizing that you're putting in long hours, guys are away from their families, and all that stuff, he really prioritizes those relationships,” Fife said. 

“He has those little things throughout the day that, again, are stupid jokes that you shake your head at, but they deepen relationships because you know that someone's reaching out to you and caring to talk to you. All those things. He is so deliberate with that.”

Kornet’s style of comedy is certainly unique. Even his closest friends and former teammates struggle to describe it accurately.

“It's like every joke he makes is an inside joke, even though they're not inside jokes,” said Hayes.

“Very, very dry sense of humor. You got to be smart enough to understand it for a lot of it,” said Arcidiacano.

“You have to be on your toes with him,” said Fife. “We, as a friend group, have all gotten very used to it, and we always enjoy it. But he always feels like a step ahead of all of us at the same time.”

“The first couple times, if you just meet him, you'll just be like, 'Eh, okay.' But then, once you understand that that's him, and also [understand that] he's not gonna stop, it actually just gets funnier and funnier,” said Roberson.

“You really can't desribe it. I don't know anybody else like him”

Kornet doesn’t always get minutes on the Celtics. He’s not always in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. But always manages to capture the spotlight. Not because he wants it but because it finds him.

“This is the Luke we all knew before, but it's just funny that the world's getting exposed to it now,” said Roberson. “And it's pretty cool to see.”

For years, Kornet toiled away in the G League. His unwavering positivity rubbed off on those around him, but fans were unable to admire the true value he brings to the table.

Combined with a reset year in Maine, the consistency he’s gotten to enjoy with the Celtics has brought out the best of Kornet. He can laugh. He can express himself. And most importantly, people are able to appreciate the hilarious human he truly is.

From his origins as a comedian, walking his dog and shouting out at the beginning of English class, Kornet has grown into the exact person he was destined to be. 

And Boston has given him a platform to display it to the world.

“I referenced kind of where he was trying to find himself a little bit more early [in his] career, in terms of his NBA personality, but when you're on a losing team, when guys are playing for contracts a little bit more than wins, it's not as familial,” said Fife. “There's not as much camaraderie. And so, it's been so cool for us as friends to see the fullness of his personality being appreciated by his teammates, by the coaches, by Brad and the front office. That's been really special for us.

“Not only [is he a] special guy from a character perspective, but just his goofy humor. It's so cool to see him really lean into that and for it to be appreciated by those around him.”