Cooper Flagg edges Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel for NBA Rookie of the Year
Kon Knueppel won’t have those friendly bragging rights over a good buddy this summer.
The Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel finished second in the KIA 2025-26 Rookie of the Year voting, the NBA announced Monday night. Cooper Flagg of the Dallas Mavericks — the No. 1 overall pick who was Knueppel’s teammate during their lone season at Duke — claimed the award.
Knueppel garnered 44 first-place votes and totaled 386 while Flagg amassed 56 first-place nods that propelled him to a total of 412. VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers (96) finished third.
A global panel of 100 people, including The Charlotte Observer, participated in the vote.
Knueppel was seeking to join Hornets star guard LaMelo Ball as the franchise’s latest player to win the award. Ball took home the prize following the 2020-21 campaign.
Selected fourth overall behind Flagg, San Antonio’s Dylan Harper and Edgecombe, Knueppel posted 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game in 81 regular-season appearances. He connected on 47.5% of his overall attempts and nailed 42.3% behind the arc, helping the 20-year-old lead the NBA in 3-pointers with 273 — more than half of his total made field goals.
Named Eastern Conference rookie of the month for four straight months to begin the season, Knueppel owns the NBA rookie record for 3-pointers in a season and became the fastest player in NBA history to reach 200 career made 3-pointers.
Among Knueppel’s other notable accomplishments: He’s the only player in NBA history with at least 150 points and 30 made 3-pointers in his first 10 games; first to make 50 3-pointers through his first 15 career games and first with three-plus 3-pointers in each of his first four games.
Still, that wasn’t enough to propel Knueppel to enough votes, and Knueppel has to settle for second in a close race to Flagg.
This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 7:37 PM with the headline "Cooper Flagg edges Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Knueppel for NBA Rookie of the Year."
