{"id":698721,"date":"2026-04-05T00:18:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698721\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T00:18:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:18:20","slug":"mavericks-cooper-flagg-declared-nba-rookie-of-the-year-favorite-by-coach-kidd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/698721\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks’ Cooper Flagg Declared NBA Rookie of the Year Favorite by Coach Kidd"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AA cubist interpretation of a young basketball star’s meteoric rise, capturing the dynamic energy and raw talent that has made him a Rookie of the Year frontrunner.Charlotte Today<\/p>\n

Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has emphatically declared that his rookie star Cooper Flagg should be the NBA Rookie of the Year, stating that Flagg has separated himself from the competition and is in “rare air” with his performance this season. Flagg, at just 19 years old, became the youngest player in league history to score 50 points or more in a game, doing so with a 63% shooting clip against the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The NBA Rookie of the Year award is one of the league’s most prestigious honors, recognizing the top first-year player. Kidd’s strong endorsement of Flagg over Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, who also had a standout rookie campaign, highlights how impactful Flagg has been for the Mavericks this season.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

Flagg broke the NBA rookie three-point record and became the Hornets’ franchise leader in made three-pointers, surpassing Kemba Walker. However, Kidd believes Flagg’s accomplishments, including his historic 51-point game, have put him in a class of his own among this year’s rookie class.<\/p>\n

Flagg scored 51 points against the Orlando Magic.There are only five games remaining in the NBA regular season.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Cooper Flagg<\/p>\n

A 19-year-old rookie forward for the Dallas Mavericks who has emerged as a top contender for the NBA Rookie of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Jason Kidd<\/p>\n

The head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, who has strongly endorsed Flagg as the deserving Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n

Kon Knueppel<\/p>\n

A rookie guard for the Charlotte Hornets who has also had an impressive season and is considered a top contender for the Rookie of the Year award.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should be rookie of the year. The country is not watching the same thing we get to watch on a daily basis. He’s in rare air. His spirit is about winning. Right now, we’re not. But as he just said in the locker room, we are just going to be that much better come next season. He’s delivered. And the expectations are extremely high on this young man. He’s checked every box every time he’s taken the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jason Kidd, Head Coach, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

NBA awards voters will make their final decisions on the Rookie of the Year award in the next week, with the winner to be announced shortly after the regular season ends.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

Kidd’s strong endorsement of Flagg highlights the young Mavericks star’s historic and dominant rookie campaign, which has put him in position to win the prestigious Rookie of the Year award despite stiff competition from Knueppel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a A cubist interpretation of a young basketball star’s meteoric rise,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,686,149,4057,166,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-698721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-dallasmavericks","12":"tag-mavericks","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116349234441674818","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698721","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=698721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}