Cooper Flagg - Rookie of the Year

The NBA announced today that Mavericks forward/guard Cooper Flagg has been named the 2025-26 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. He joins Jason Kidd (1994-95) and Luka Dončić (2018-19) as the only Mavericks to garner the award. Flagg (19 years, 112 days) also becomes the second-youngest player in NBA history to receive the honor based upon age at the end of the regular season (LeBron James; 19 years, 106 days).

“This is a truly great honor,” said Flagg. “I’m grateful to receive this award and thankful to everyone in the Dallas Mavericks organization who believed in me from day one. None of this happens without my teammates, coaches and the people around me pushing me every day. I came here to compete and help this team win. This is just one step forward in what we’re building.”

Flagg (6-9, 220) averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.9 blocks and 33.5 minutes per game in 70 games (all starts) in 2025-26. He became the third rookie in the last 45 years to average at least 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists for a season, joining Michael Jordan and Dončić. Flagg finished as the only player from the 2025 draft class to rank in the top 5 among rookie averages for scoring (1st), rebounding (4th), assists (2nd), steals (2nd) and blocks (5th). He also ranked second among rookies in minutes, and ninth in both field goal percentage (.468) and free throw percentage (.827).

The Duke University product led the Mavericks in total points (1,473), rebounds (466), assists (316) and steals (84). He finished as the only player in the entire NBA to lead his team in each of the four categories and joined Jordan as the only rookies in league history to do so. Flagg averaged 22.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks after the All-Star break, finishing as the only player across the entire NBA to average at least 20.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks following the break.

The 19-year-old led all rookies in 25-point games (21), 30-point efforts (11), 35-point outings (6), 40-point performances (4), 45-point games (3) and 50-point outings (1). He also led all first-year players in 20-5-5 games (17), 25-5-5 efforts (12), 30-5-5 games (6), 35-5-5 outings (3) and 40-5-5 performances (2).

Flagg (19 years, 103 days) became the youngest player in NBA history to score 50-plus points with his 51-point performance against the Orlando Magic on April 3, breaking his own record for the most points by a teenager in NBA history (49, vs. Charlotte, Jan. 29). He followed with a 45-point outing against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 5 to join Wilt Chamberlain as the only rookies in NBA history to total 96-plus points over any two-game span.

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