Mavs Fans Will Love Dirk Nowitzki's Reaction To Cooper Flagg Winning ROTY

Cooper Flagg was named the NBA's Rookie of the Year for the 2025-26 season this week, becoming the third player in Dallas Mavericks history to win the award, joining Luka Doncic and Jason Kidd. Notably, the greatest player in franchise history, Dirk Nowitzki, isn't on that list, so Flagg could be on an all-time path.

However, Nowitzki still watches a lot of games. Now that he's on the Amazon Prime NBA studio show, he can voice his opinion, and he seemed really proud of Flagg winning the award, especially with everything Flagg had to deal with early in the year.

"I don't want to sound like a homer here, I do anyways. I love Kon, and I think they both deserved it. You could've gone Co-Rookie of the Year, but I watched Cooper all year long," Nowitzki said. "The stuff he had to deal with early, with all the negativity around and the booing. There was a lot happening that whole season. But the way he kept his head down, worked, got better, started at point guard at 6'9", something he's never done. To me, he's had an incredible year. He had a 50-ball, a 40-ball, he had a couple 30-balls. He led the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals... Historic numbers as a teenager... Well deserved, Cooper, we're proud of you."

Dirk on Cooper Flagg winning ROY:

"I watched Cooper all year long. The stuff he had to deal with early with all the negativity around and the booing. There was a lot happening that whole season... Started at PG at 6'9 something he's never done.... Historic numbers as a teenager.… pic.twitter.com/d9lLTtf3bf
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) April 29, 2026

Circumstances Around Cooper Flagg Made Him an Easy Winner

Cooper Flagg thought he was stepping into an ideal situation. The morale around the fanbase was low after the Luka Doncic trade, but he still had Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving, as well as other key veterans like Daniel Gafford and Klay Thompson, that he could rely on.

Instead, Davis played in just 20 games due to multiple injuries before he was traded in a salary dump to the Washington Wizards. Kyrie Irving didn't play at all this year as he recovered from an ACL tear. With the Mavs going nowhere, it made sense for him to just keep recovering.

The negative morale of the fanbase spread throughout the team quickly. They were booing at home games and chanting for the team to fire Nico Harrison as the general manager, and that wish became granted on November 11th. That's a lot for a rookie to deal with, but he was still spectacular all season long.

Flagg may have struggled to play point guard initially, but he adapted quickly to having the ball in his hands. That's going to help him a lot as the Mavs look to contend again next year.

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