Cooper Flagg tops Kon Knueppel for ROY honors in tight race - ESPN

Teenage sensation Cooper Flagg won NBA Rookie of the Year on Monday, narrowly defeating his former Duke roommate Kon Knueppel for the honor.

Flagg edged out Knueppel by 26 points in the voting by a panel of 100 media members. Flagg received 56 first-place votes with the rest going to Knueppel.

Flagg had 44 second-place votes, while Knueppel received 55 second-place votes and one third-place vote.

«I was watching Kon just because that's one of my brothers,» Flagg said on NBC after the honor was announced. «We have that connection and we're always going to be there for each other.

»I was watching him as a fan as well, but there's also going to be that competition at the same time."

The 26-point voting gap between Flagg and Knueppel is the second smallest between the top finishers in a Rookie of the Year race since the current voting format began in 2002-03, according to the NBA. Only the race between Scottie Barnes (378 points) and Evan Mobley (363) in the 2021-22 season had a smaller gap.

Flagg, the No. 1 pick in last year's draft, averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists for the Dallas Mavericks, joining Larry Bird, Michael Jordan and Luka Doncic as the only rookies to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists in the 50 seasons since the NBA-ABA merger. Flagg led all rookies in scoring, ranked second among qualifiers in assists and third in rebounds.

The 26-point gap between the top two finishers for Rookie of the Year is the second smallest since the current voting format began in 2002-03, according to the NBA.

Knueppel, the No. 4 pick, averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists while shattering the rookie record for 3-pointers made with a league-leading 273. He played a major role in a