Until the last two games, it seemed like Kon Knueppel was going to be your NBA Rookie of the Year over his former Duke teammate, Cooper Flagg. Knueppel's historic three-point shooting, the Charlotte Hornets being a playoff team, and a Flagg injury all added up to swing the pendulum in favor of Knueppel.
But then Flagg decided to throw on his Superman cape and invoke memories of Wilt Chamberlain. When you do something as a 19-year-old rookie that hasn't been seen since one of the most statistically dominant players in NBA history, you're going to flip a narrative that felt already set with just four games to play.
Following up a 51-point outing in a loss to the Magic on Friday night, Flagg dropped 45 points in a win over the Lakers on Sunday. He's now the youngest player in NBA history to record back-to-back 45+ point games.
He's the first rookie since Wilt Chamberlain to score 96+ points in a two-game span:
Cooper Flagg last two games:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) April 6, 2026
51 PTS | 6 REB | 3 STL | 6 3P
45 PTS | 8 REB | 9 AST | 2 STL
The most points in a two game stretch by a rookie since Wilt. pic.twitter.com/Rll9z6wiv9
Cooper Flagg has overtaken Kon Knueppel in Rooke of the Year odds
Flagg's superstar performances in the last two games for the Mavericks have led him to overtake Knueppel in Rookie of the Year odds.
Per FanDuel, Flagg is now -210 to win the award, with Knueppel slipping to second at +150. That signals a close race, but the fact that Flagg has made up as much ground as he has - with Knueppel having his own historic season - speaks to the ridiculous performances the Dallas rookie has put together recently.
The former Duke teammates are the only two candidates for the award. 76ers rookie - and former Baylor star - VJ Edgecombe is a distant third place in the betting odds.
The former Blue Devils stars have had tremendous rookie years, and either would be deserving of the Rookie of the Year. Regardless of who ultimately wins it, and things are certainly trending toward it being Flagg, both have shown they are going to be stars in this league for a long time to come.
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