NBA Hall of Famer Admits to Changing Mavericks' Cooper Flagg's Rookie of the Year Vote

The Dallas Mavericks only had one thing to play for down the stretch of the season: get Cooper Flagg the Rookie of the Year award. He was the favorite for most of the season, but a midfoot sprain sidelined him around the All-Star Break for 8 games, and Kon Knueppel of the Charlotte Hornets became the massive betting favorite at that point.

It took a few games for Flagg to get back in a rhythm, but once he did, few players in the NBA were better, much less any rookies. He had 27/10/6 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 32 and 9 against the Golden State Warriors, 51 points against the Orlando Magic, 45/9/8 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and 33 points against the San Antonio Spurs. All of those teams were in postseason contention, and Flagg was the best player on the floor in each game.

That started to swing some of the favor back toward Flagg. However, nearing the season's end, a lot of the media were still leaning toward Kon Knueppel, including NBA Hall of Famer and NBC broadcaster Reggie Miller. He has since changed his mind.

“Two weeks ago, I had Kon,” Miller said on the "Dan Patrick Show." "But after all what I saw down the stretch and from what I understand, the ballots didn’t go out because of the arbitration that was going on with Luka [Doncic] and Cade [Cunningham], so the ballots came after that play-in game with Kon and the struggles that he had in that game. He played better the next night out against Orlando, but they still got like walloped. I’m going with Cooper Flagg.”

Jan 29, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) controls the ball as Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel (7) defends during the first quarter at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Outside Factors May Have Helped Cooper Flagg's Chances at ROTY

The only reason the voting ballots were delayed in being sent out was because of Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham, who technically fell short of the minimum games needed to be qualified for MVP, All-NBA, and other awards. However, they filed an appeal to be considered for extraordinary circumstances. Doncic missed two games to fly overseas for the birth of his second daughter, while Cunningham missed a handful of games due to a collapsed lung.

Both of those were approved, while Anthony Edwards' claim was denied. While people were waiting for that to be finalized, Kon Knueppel and the Charlotte Hornets played a game in the Play-In Tournament, and he was awful, getting benched down the stretch and for all of overtime against the Miami Heat.

While that's not supposed to sway anyone's vote, it absolutely has. Part of the argument for Knueppel winning was that he impacted winning, and in a must-win game, he was benched. The biggest reason that the Hornets won more games was the availability of Brandon Miller and LaMelo Ball. Knueppel contributed to that, but Ball and Miller were much more important.

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