Mavericks' Jason Kidd reacts to Cooper Flagg winning Rookie of Year

Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd on Tuesday expressed his excitement about forward Cooper Flagg winning the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Flagg secured 56 first-place votes and finished with 412 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. He narrowly topped Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (386 points), the second-smallest margin of victory under the current voting format (2002-03).

The No. 1 overall pick became the third player in franchise history to win, joining Luka Dončić (2018-19) and Kidd (1994-95), who shared the award with Grant Hill. Kidd often advocated for Flagg to win throughout the season and congratulated him on X.

Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 46.8% from the field in 70 appearances. He led the rookie class in scoring average and had the most 30-point games (11) by a first-year player since Victor Wembanyama in the 2023-24 season.

The former Duke All-American joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies in history to lead their team in total points, rebounds, assists and steals since steals were first recorded in 1973-74. He is the second-youngest player to win the award (19 years, 127 days).

Flagg on April 3 became one of 10 rookies to score at least 50 points in a game. He followed that performance with a 45-point outing on April 5, joining Allen Iverson as the only first-year players since the NBA-ABA merger with back-to-back 40-point games.