Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel make league history with rookie honors
One of the major storylines entering this NBA season has been the race for Rookie of the Year, with the Dallas Mavericks taking the number one overall pick. draft pick Cooper Flagg most expect to be the favorite for the award. Flagg has had a strong start to the year and appears to be in the driver’s seat to win the award, but he has plenty of competition in his old Duke Blue Devils teammate and current shooting guard for the Charlotte HornetsKon Knuepel.
Recently, the NBA announced that Flagg won the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for November and Knuepel the Eastern Conference, and in the process, the duo made part of league history.
“This is the first time in NBA history that both rookies of the month are from the same college,” reported NBA insider Brett Siegel of ClutchPoint on X, formerly Twitter.
Flagg is currently averaging 17 points per game with 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists, and while he has yet to find his range beyond the arc, he is still shooting a decent 46.6 percent from the field overall.
Meanwhile, Knuepel is averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3 assists per game for the Hornets, and is shooting 41.5% from the three-point line, which is outstanding for any player, let alone a rookie. Knueppel recently took advantage of a shockingly poor defense by Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram to send that game into overtime, where the Hornets ended up winning it in upset fashion.
While VJ Edgecome is also noteworthy, right now the Rookie of the Year race is between Flagg and Knuepel, which makes it all the more puzzling that Duke wasn’t able to get the job done and win a championship last season.
The Mavericks and Hornets will meet for the first time this regular season on January 29th.
2025-12-02 20:09:00
