{"id":659018,"date":"2026-03-15T03:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T03:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/659018\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T03:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T03:24:18","slug":"mavericks-cooper-flagg-emphasizes-everything-he-has-learned-in-his-rookie-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/659018\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks\u2019 Cooper Flagg emphasizes everything he has learned in his rookie season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Mavericks<\/a> have not fallen into an even worse position largely because of the play of their rookie Cooper Flagg. Carrying such a significant role brought major lessons for the young star, something he acknowledged during his NBA postgame media availability after Friday\u2019s three-point loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, per DLLS Sports\u2019 Abby Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned a ton throughout this whole year about myself. About the game of basketball. About the people around me,\u201d Flagg said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve learned a lot about life. It\u2019s been a big learning year for me, and I\u2019ve had to mature a lot. So it\u2019s been a good year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid a stellar 2025-26 season that placed him firmly in the Rookie of the Year conversation, Flagg recorded his 25th game with 20 or more points in Friday\u2019s 138-135 loss against the Cavaliers. The performance set a new NBA record, surpassing Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant for the most 20-point games by a teenager. Cooper finished with 25 points on 8 for 16 shooting, along with five assists and four rebounds.<\/p>\n

Will Cooper Flagg be the Rookie of the Year?<\/p>\n

At first glance, everything appears to point toward him winning Rookie of the Year because of the impressive level he has maintained. However, he faces strong competition from his former college teammate Kon Knueppel.<\/p>\n

\"CooperCooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n

Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg<\/a>\u2019s odds of winning the award remain strong, but questions remain about what could improve his chances. That topic was recently addressed by NBA insider Marc Stein, who considered the Mavericks\u2019 situation and their positioning regarding the lottery.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

see also<\/p>\n

Stephen Curry injury update: Warriors reportedly fear rushing the star\u2019s recovery<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time, the Charlotte Hornets have emerged as a playoff team, and Knueppel has played a significant role in that rise. With the Mavericks\u2019 season winding down, Flagg\u2019s chances of winning Rookie of the Year could remain uncertain, as Stein noted, per The All-NBA<\/a> Podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mavs have 18 games left, and the truth is, if they can go 0 \u2013 18, it would be the best thing for them. That\u2019s the way the system is,\u201d Stein said on the All-NBA podcast. \u201cThe way the system is structured, the best thing for the Mavs is to lose and to lose royally, and that\u2019s obviously not going to be great if you\u2019re chasing Rookie of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks have not fallen into an even worse position largely because of the play of their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,225,686,149,4057,166,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-659018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-cooper-flagg","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dallasmavericks","13":"tag-mavericks","14":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116231057260118395","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}