You Won't Believe How Much Cooper Flagg Spent on Kon Knueppel Rookie Cards

Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel has taken the league by storm with his elite shotmaking ability and decision-making. Just the other night, he surpassed Donovan Mitchell for the most threes in the NBA this season while also passing Mitchell for second place in the most made threes by a rookie in NBA history.

Even one of his best friends, Cooper Flagg, is trying to capitalize on his red-hot start by buying a handful of his rookie cards. Saturday night, Topps posted a video of Flagg looking over some trading cards, some of which were manually autographed. He decided to take a few of them with him, spending $7,000.

"Seven grand, huh? Do I like Kon that much? I don't know. Yeah, we can do that," he said. "These are for my collection now."

Cooper Flagg just spent $7,000 on Kon Knueppel rookie cards pic.twitter.com/Y4PIf5LqQ2
— Topps (@Topps) February 22, 2026

The Rookie of the Year is either going to be Flagg or Knueppel. The former Duke teammates have played well beyond their years this season, posting performances we haven't seen from players their age in a really long time.

On one hand, Flagg has done everything you would expect a No. 1 overall pick to do. He's come in and made an immediate impact, already proving he's the face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise and could perhaps one day be one of the faces of the NBA.

So far this season, Flagg is averaging 20.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 48% from the floor and 30% from three-point range. He's listed as a small forward, but he's played a ton of point guard this season, which just goes to show you how truly skilled he is — putting up serious numbers at a position he's unfamiliar with.

As for Knueppel, he's second on the Hornets in scoring, posting 19.1 points per game, trailing only Brandon Miller, who is at 20.5 per night. He's been consistent and has shown virtually no signs of hitting a rookie wall.

"I never have to worry too much about him finding his offense or having to cater to him," head coach Charles Lee said about him the other night. "That's one of the beauties of who he is as a player. He feeds and works off of everyone else so well. He looks for opportunities; he doesn't force too much," Lee stated. "He finds a couple shots to go in, and it gets him going a little bit more. At that point, if you’re in an ATO, you’re trying to draw up a play to try to get him a look, but I just love that he sticks with it. He’s consistently trying to make the right play not only for himself, but for our team to put us in the best position to be successful.”