Cooper Flagg won the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year award, edging Kon Knueppel by just 26 voting points (412 to 386) out of 100 media voters — the second-closest margin since the current format began in 2002-03. Flagg's all-around statistical dominance (21.0 pts, 6.7 reb, 4.5 ast, leading his team in all four major categories) outweighed Knueppel's team-success argument, exactly as the analyst predicted. The core reasoning of the take — that Flagg's production burden would trump Charlotte's improved record — proved correct.