Cooper Flagg edged his former Duke roommate Kon Knueppel to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award on Monday night. The 19-year-old Dallas Mavericks forward is the second-youngest player to win the award, behind only LeBron James.
Historic season for Flagg
Flagg is the first rookie since Michael Jordan in the 1984-85 season to lead his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He and Knueppel finished first and second in rookie scoring, the first former college teammates to achieve that feat since UConn stars Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon in 2004-05. Philadelphia's VJ Edgecombe was the other finalist.
Flagg's 96-point outburst over two games on the penultimate weekend of the season may have tipped the scales. That included a 51-point showing against Orlando, making him the first teenager to score 50 points in an NBA game. He broke his own record for a teenager of 49, set against Knueppel and the Hornets in January.
Close voting
Only 26 points separated Flagg and Knueppel in balloting where 100 reporters and broadcasters ranked their top three rookies, with five points for first, three for second and one for third. Flagg said he kept an eye on Knueppel: "I see the games every night. I can check the box scores. I was watching him as a fan as well, but there was obviously that competition."
Knueppel's achievements
Knueppel, who was a one-and-done at Duke like Flagg but turned 20 before his NBA career started, became the first rookie to lead the league in three-pointers (273). He averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists, shooting 42.5% from three-point range. He joined Larry Bird and Paul Pierce as the only NBA rookies to average 15 points and five rebounds while shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc. Behind Knueppel, Charlotte won 44 games before being eliminated by Orlando in the final round of the play-in tournament.
Flagg's adjustment
Flagg thought he was joining a playoff contender after the Mavericks took him No. 1 overall. But Anthony Davis was sidelined again as Dallas started slowly, and was traded to Washington before Kyrie Irving could return from a knee injury. The Mavericks eventually decided to keep Irving out the entire season. Despite the team's steady slide, Flagg kept making history. He and Jordan are the only rookies to record multiple games of at least 45 points since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976-77.
"I think you talk about pressure and things like that, this season was a lot different going into it and what I was expecting and how the season ended up turning out," Flagg said. "I think dealing with that and adjusting and kind of getting thrown in on the fly right away like that helped me long-term and throughout the season just getting really comfortable. I think I grew in a lot of different areas."
