Mavericks' Cooper Flagg Sends Message After ROTY Win
The NBA announced on Monday that Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks has been named the 2026 Rookie of the Year. It was a tough contest between Flagg and his former Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets. But in the end, the Maine native took home the award for his historic campaign.
He became the second-youngest player to win the award behind only Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James. He also joined former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan in the history books. Flagg and Jordan both led their respective teams in total points, rebounds, assists and steals.
The former college star had 56 first-place votes, and Knueppel had 44. They were the only players to have first-place votes.
Cooper Flagg Sends a Message to the Future NBA Players
Flagg had a message for the upcoming NBA players after accepting his honor. He gave those who want to earn the prize some motivational suggestions.
"I think my message is just to be -- just use this award and things like that, but just to be motivated," Flagg said. "Usually, there's competition, but just go out there every night and just play as hard as you can, impact the game in a lot of different ways."
"I think that's something that I've always prided myself on. Just playing the game to impact it, and impact winning in a lot of different ways. Just do that and let the rest of the stuff figure itself out."
"Just go out there every night and play as hard as you can."
— NBA (@NBA) April 28, 2026
After being named the 2025-26 @Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, Cooper Flagg delivered a motivational message to the next rookie class! https://t.co/cmPIytnaq0pic.twitter.com/DI2V1HrWQf
Flagg had a promising start to his NBA career and has shown early on that he has what it takes to be a star. After winning the award, the Mavericks forward revealed his thoughts on being part of the league's historic first-year players.
"It's surreal. It's pretty cool. That's obviously the award that all rookies come into their first year and are searching out and wanting to get that recognition… It just means a lot and it's cool," he said.
His head coach, Jason Kidd, provided him with assistance that greatly aided him in earning the ROTY award. The Mavericks coach has won the award before; in 1995, he and Detroit Pistons great Grant Hill were named co-winners.
Flagg appeared in 70 games this season and averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He also had seven 30-point games, three 40-point games and one 50-point game. He had his career-high of 51 points against the Orlando Magic during the final month of the regular-season.
Related: Cooper Flagg Credits Teammates With Keeping Him "Sane"
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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 5:50 PM.