Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg was voted as the NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2025-26 season on Monday, April 27, 2026.
Flagg finished ahead of the Charlotte Hornets' Kon Knueppel in a close race for the award. Flagg earned 56 first-place votes and totaled 412 points, while Knueppel had 44 first-place votes and 386 total points. The 26-point gap between them is the second smallest between the top-two finishers since the current voting format began in 2002-03, behind only a 15-point gap in 2021-22 when Scottie Barnes edged Evan Mobley for the award.
The Philadelphia 76ers' VJ Edgecombe finished third with 96 total points and one second-place vote.
Flagg joined two NBA icons by winning Rookie of the Year.
He became the second-youngest winner (19 years, 112 days as of April 12, the final day of the regular season), behind only LeBron James (19 years, 106 days in 2003-04). And, he joined Michael Jordan as the only rookies to lead their team in total points (1,473), rebounds (466), assists (316) and steals (84) since steals were first recorded in 1973-74.
