Cooper Flagg wins NBA Rookie of the Year Award over Kon Knueppel

The NBA announced the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award winner Monday night, declaring the winner to be former Duke Blue Devil Cooper Flagg.

Flagg had a historic rookie season for the Dallas Mavericks, breaking rookie records previously held by LeBron James. On the season, he averaged 21 points per game, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Flagg took the league by storm in early April, combining to score 96 points in two games.

As a result, he did enough to pass his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel for the award. This comes after an ankle injury that caused Flagg to appear in just 70 games throughout the year.

Now having hoisted the Rookie of the Year Award trophy, Duke fans will be eager to see how Flagg can follow up his rookie campaign as the Mavericks look to bounce back in 2026.

Knueppel had a great rookie season with the Charlotte Hornets, leading the league in three-pointers made as a rookie. On the year, he averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.7 steals. Additionally, Knueppel became the third rookie to ever average 15+ points and five or more rebounds while shooting over 40% from three-point range.

His strong play propelled the Hornets to the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, falling one game short of their first playoff appearance in 10 seasons.

This article originally appeared on Duke Wire: