Cooper Flagg named 2025, 26 NBA Rookie of the Year

sportsApr 27, 202640274

Dallas Mavericks No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg was named the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year after averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Flagg edged former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel and Charlotte guard VJ Edgecombe for the honor after shattering records as a teenage rookie this season. He became the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals, underscoring his rare all-around impact and his role as the Mavericks' new cornerstone.

NBA

@nba.com

The 2025-26 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year is... Cooper Flagg!

1193h ago

brandenrlugo.bsky.social3

What's the vote count? Curious how close Kon came to winning!

Cody Taylor

@codytaylornba.bsky.social

Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg has been named the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year. His 26-point margin of victory over Kon Knueppel is the second smallest under the current voting format (2002-03).

413h ago

The Associated Press

@apnews.com

Cooper Flagg was voted NBA Rookie of the Year ahead of Kon Knueppel and VJ Edgecombe. Flagg was the first rookie since Michael Jordan in 1984-85 to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

293h ago

The New York Times

@nytimes.com

From @theathletic.com: Cooper Flagg won NBA Rookie of the Year after leading the Dallas Mavericks in points, rebounds, assists and steals.

233h ago

Darin Gantt

@daringantt.bsky.social

I blame gerrymandering for Cooper Flagg being named rookie of the year and not Kon Knueppel. Because there's no empirical case for that.

103h ago

NBA Daily News

@insidenbanews.bsky.social

Cooper Flagg over Kon Knueppel was the second-closest Rookie of the Year race under the current voting format (since 2003), via @ NBAPR. Only Scottie Barnes over Evan Mobley in 2022 was closer. Complete voting results:

53h ago

Lev Akabas

@levakabas.bsky.social

Cooper Flagg just won NBA Rookie of the Year The race was basically 50/50 between Flagg and Kon Knueppel before the Play-In Tournament, in which Kon played a bad game and got benched Did that game change the outcome of the award?

73h ago

Hoop Informatics

@hoopinformatics.bsky.social

Season Estimated +/- (a catch all stat that estimates a players overall impact to their team) has Kon Knueppel in a league of his own as easily the best rookie of the year. Screenshot via dunksandthrees.com

Alt text:
Table showing Estimated Plus/Minus (EPM) for six NBA rookies, sorted by EPM descending. Columns are Offensive EPM (OFF), Defensive EPM (DEF), total EPM, and Estimated Wins (EW). Percentile ranks appear below each value in gray or green.

|Player |Team · Pos · Age|OFF |DEF |EPM |EW |
|----------------|----------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|Kon Knueppel |CHA · SF · 20 |+2.9 (95th)|−0.2 (49th)|+2.6 (92nd)|10.0 (96th)|
|Cedric Coward |MEM · SF · 22 |+0.7 (79th)|+0.1 (63rd)|+0.7 (76th)|4.1 (79th) |
|Collin Murray-B.|TOR · C · 20 |−0.8 (54th)|+1.5 (92nd)|+0.7 (76th)|3.2 (73rd) |
|Dylan Harper |SAS · PG · 19 |−0.1 (67th)|+0.7 (80th)|+0.6 (75th)|4.0 (77th) |
|VJ Edgecombe |PHI · SG · 20 |+0.2 (72nd)|+0.1 (65th)|+0.4 (73rd)|6.0 (88th) |
|Cooper Flagg |DAL · SF · 19 |+0.0 (69th)|−0.1 (55th)|−0.1 (66th)|4.7 (83rd) |

Knueppel leads all rookies with a +2.6 EPM (92nd percentile) and 10.0 estimated wins (96th percentile). Source appears to be Dunks & Threes.

63h ago

Jordan Wood

@jordanwood.bsky.social

Rookie of the Year: Cooper Flagg. Of course. 🏀 Every day is Flagg Day in Maine.

63h ago

Mike Piellucci

@mikelikessports.bsky.social

Brian Dameris doesn't know whether Cooper Flagg or Kon Knueppel will be named Rookie of the Year tonight. What he does know, as a guy who was there at the start of the NBA's analytics revolution, is the race stands for something bigger: data vs. instinct. www.dmagazine.com/sports/2026/...

412h ago

Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof

@evanbernick.bsky.social

it’s very rare that people named cooper flagg win anything

53h ago

Kurt Helin

@basketballtalk.bsky.social

Dallas' Cooper Flagg wins NBA Rookie of the Year in a historically close race www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/dal...

53h ago

Philadelphia Inquirer Sports

@phillysport.bsky.social

VJ Edgecombe finished third in voting for the NBA’s Rookie of the Year, behind winner Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks and second-place finisher Kon Knueppel of the Hornets. www.inquirer.com/sixers/vj-ed...

22h ago