Flagg edges Knueppel for 2025‑26 Rookie of the Year

Cooper Flagg was named the 2025‑26 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, narrowly beating former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel after a season in which he led Dallas in points, rebounds, assists and steals, a rookie feat last seen with Michael Jordan. Knueppel pushed him to the wire by guiding Charlotte to the play‑in with steady scoring and elite shooting, while both nineteen‑year‑olds finished as the top two rookie scorers, the first ex‑college teammates to do so since Okafor and Gordon at UConn. The race swung late, with Flagg’s ninety‑six points across two games, including a fifty‑one‑point explosion against Orlando, the first fifty‑point outing ever by a teenager.

The final margin was just twenty‑six voting points from a panel of one hundred. Knueppel, who led the league in made threes with 273, averaged 18.5 points and helped Charlotte win forty‑four games before falling in the play‑in.