Dallas' Cooper Flagg wins NBA Rookie of the Year in historically close race

Entering the season, Cooper Flagg was projected to run away with Rookie of the Year. He was the No. 1 pick and on a team that entered the season expecting to be playing in postseason games right now.

"This season turned out a lot different than I expected..." Flagg said on NBA Showtime on Peacock on Monday. "Being thrown into the fire like that, I think, will help me in the long term."

During his up-and-down season, it looked for long stretches like Flagg's college roommate at Duke — Charlotte's Kon Knueppel — would take the award. Voeters were clearly divided to the end, but a late slide by Knueppel and a monster final few weeks of the season by Flagg swung the vote back to him.

Flagg was named NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday in the second-closest race since the league started tracking the voting (2003).

Knueppel came in second in the voting, with Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe — who would have won it a lot of years — coming in a distant third.

Flagg had 56 first-place votes and 44 second-place votes, and Knueppel essentially flipped that, with 44 first-place votes and 55 second-place votes (one voter had Edgecombe second).

This was the second-closest ROY vote ever, the only closer one was in 2022 when Scottie Barnes just edged Evan Mobley (with Cade Cunningham third).

Edgecombe had 93 third-place votes. The Spurs' Dylan Harper had five third-place votes and the Grizzlies' Cedric Coward had one.

Flagg made history with the win — he stands with guys in the GOAT debate for his rookie season. Flagg joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies to lead their team in total points, rebounds, assists and steals. Flagg also is the second-youngest NBA Rookie of the Year winner, behind only LeBron James.