{"id":1906045,"date":"2026-04-27T23:16:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1906045"},"modified":"2026-04-27T23:16:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:16:59","slug":"cooper-flagg-edges-kon-knueppel-in-close-nba-rookie-of-the-year-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1906045","title":{"rendered":"Cooper Flagg edges Kon Knueppel in close NBA Rookie of the Year race"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the third time in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks have an NBA Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year\u2019s draft, on Monday joined Jason Kidd (1995) and Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (2019) as the only Mavericks players to earn the honor.\u00a0Flagg narrowly beat out Kon Knueppel, his former college teammate and roommate at Duke, in one of the best Rookie of the Year award races in recent memory.<\/p>\n

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Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks this season. He became the first rookie since Michael Jordan to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. Flagg\u2019s versatility and historic performances \u2014 he scored 51 points in an April 3 game against the Orlando Magic, the most by a teenager in NBA history \u2014 helped give him the slight edge over Knueppel among voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a truly great honor,\u201d Flagg said via statement. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to receive this award and thankful to everyone in the Dallas Mavericks organization who believed in me from day one. None of this happens without my teammates, coaches and the people around me pushing me every day. I came here to compete and help this team win. This is just one step forward in what we\u2019re building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flagg earned 56 first-place votes (five points each) and 44 second-place votes (three). Knueppel finished with 44 first-place votes and 55 second-place votes. Philadelphia 76ers guard VJ Edgecombe placed third.<\/p>\n

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Knueppel, whom the Charlotte Hornets selected with the No. 4 pick, averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists this season. His 273 3-point makes were the most in the NBA. Knueppel shattered the previous rookie record for 3-point makes in a season in February, surpassing Keegan Murray\u2019s total of 206 from 2022-23, and also assisted in a dramatic Hornets turnaround. Charlotte got off to a 16-28 start but went 28-10 the rest of the way. Alongside lead ballhandler LaMelo Ball and bucket-getting forward Brandon Miller, Knueppel helped the Hornets (44-38) finish with a winning record for only the second time in the last decade.<\/p>\n

Knueppel\u2019s scoring efficiency and contributions on a winning team were major reasons why Hornets coach Charles Lee pushed hard for him<\/a> to win Rookie of the Year before Charlotte and Dallas faced each other in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even think it\u2019s close,\u201d Lee said then.<\/p>\n

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Mavericks players and coaches countered that Knueppel was a more efficient scorer than Flagg because of the different roles they played. Knueppel was a secondary creator for Charlotte and benefited from playing alongside Ball. Flagg was the Mavericks\u2019 primary offensive engine who frequently drew double-teams.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s two different ballparks,\u201d Mavericks forward P.J. Washington said in April<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s 19, doing what he\u2019s doing. Being the main guy is a lot harder than being a rotational player hitting corner shots or just hitting 3s. He\u2019s initiating most of our offense. To be 19 doing that is unheard of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The only head-to-head matchup of the season between Flagg and Knueppel, played Jan. 29 in Dallas, produced fireworks. Flagg scored 49 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Knueppel connected on eight 3-pointers on his way to scoring a season-high 34 points.<\/p>\n

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\n Flagg joined Michael Jordan as the only NBA rookie to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals since the 1973-74 season.\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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While the Hornets won that game 123-121, Knueppel admitted afterward that Flagg might have seized the upper hand in the Rookie of the Year race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he might jump me with 49 and 10,\u201d Knueppel said. \u201cIt is what it is. If he gets it, I\u2019ll be happy for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, by late February, Knueppel appeared to be the favorite to win the award, as the Hornets kept winning games and Flagg was sidelined with a left foot sprain in eight consecutive contests. Flagg returned to the court in early March and played in 70 games. Knueppel missed only one game all season.<\/p>\n

Flagg played some of his best basketball in the final two weeks of the regular season, which could have swayed any voters who remained undecided. He scored 45 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out nine assists in the Mavericks\u2019 April 5 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. In Dallas\u2019 second-to-last regular-season game, he scored 33 points in 32 minutes against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. By then, the Mavericks had long been eliminated from postseason contention.<\/p>\n

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The Hornets secured the Eastern Conference\u2019s No. 9 seed, but their season came to an end when they suffered a blowout loss to the Orlando Magic in the Play-In Tournament. It\u2019s possible Knueppel\u2019s Rookie of the Year case took a hit in the Play-In, as he scored a combined 17 points on 5-of-22 shooting across two games. Voters weren\u2019t supposed to consider any postseason action, but ballots weren\u2019t due until after the Play-In was already underway due to the NBA needing extra time to make a ruling on which players would be eligible for end-of-season awards because of the 65-game rule.<\/p>\n

As college teammates, Flagg and Knueppel led Duke to a 35-4 record and a Final Four appearance. As they took the next step in their careers and competed against each other for Rookie of the Year, they remained close.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we\u2019ll both be in this league for a long time,\u201d Flagg said in January. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty special. That\u2019s my brother for life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the third time in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks have an NBA Rookie of the Year. Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year\u2019s draft, on Monday joined Jason Kidd (1995) and Luka Don\u010di\u0107 (2019) as the only Mavericks players to earn the honor.\u00a0Flagg narrowly beat out Kon Knueppel, his former college teammate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,241],"class_list":["post-1906045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-nytimes-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1906045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906045\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1906045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1906045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1906045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}