The Dallas Mavericks season was not ideal, but it had its moments, especially with the strong development and impact of Cooper Flagg throughout the year, ultimately earning him the NBA Rookie of the Year award in a close race against Kon Knueppel.
Cooper Flagg was honored by the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday evening, receiving his Rookie of the Year award and speaking at a press conference in Dallas shortly after. “Yeah, I mean, I think it means everything,” Flagg said about winning the Rookie of the Year award.
“I think this award and this recognition is something that all rookies come into the year fighting for, competing for, and they are trying to put their best foot forward for this award. So I think just the recognition means a lot to me. All the hard work, all the hours I have put in throughout the year, throughout the years previous, all the hours I have put in my whole life, just to get this moment, it shows that it is all worth it.
“I mean, obviously thank you to my teammates, obviously the ones that are here, but all the rest of them as well that are not here, I would not have been able to do it without them. Coaches, Coach Jason Kidd, the rest of the staff, I think it is a thank you to them, but it is an incredible recognition and it means a ton to me.”
Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets and Cooper Flagg of Dallas Mavericks.
Cooper Flagg did not forget anyone
Many expected Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets to win the award, who was also Flagg’s teammate at Duke and later became a rival competing for these honors. Flagg said on Wednesday that he spoke with Knueppel throughout the year, but never about the award, and that he considers him someone who will “be one of my best friends for the rest of my life.”
“Me and Kon, we talked all year long, but we never talked about the Rookie of the Year, or what people were saying about any of that. It was more just support, you know, for one another. And staying in contact. I mean, he is somebody that will be one of my best friends for the rest of my life.
“So just stay in contact, seeing how things have been different for him and what he has learned, and just trying to help each other in our own single journeys apart from each other, but just learning as much as we can about this league and how we can be better. But yeah, we definitely stayed in contact. And, yeah, I have talked to him.”
The great season of Flagg and Knueppel
It is an incredibly deserved award for a player who led his team in virtually every statistical category while being asked to play a position he had never really played coming into the year.
This season, Cooper Flagg joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies in NBA history to lead their team in total points, rebounds, assists, and steals since steals were first recorded in 1973-74. Flagg also became the second youngest NBA Rookie of the Year winner behind LeBron James.
In his first season in the NBA, Flagg averaged 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 46.8% from the field and 29.5% from three, all while appearing in 70 games for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks’ rookie was in a tightly contested race for the award with Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel, who finished the season averaging 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists while shooting 47.5% from the field and a blistering 42.5% from three. He made 273 three-pointers, the most ever by a rookie.
